Harbhajan Singh Rips Apart Mumbai Indians For Tilak Verma Treatment

Tilak Verma has become the fourth player to retire from the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the first player for the Mumbai Indians (MI). The left-handed batter walked off the field with seven balls left in the game against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) after coming as an impact player and managing just 25 runs in 23 balls.

In a chase of 204 runs, Verma’s knock made the difference. Naman Dhir provided them the best start in the clash before Suryakumar Yadav took care of the chase in the middle overs. But the latter wasn’t getting the support from the other end.

Tilak Verma’s struggling knock of 25 runs in 23 deliveries

The Mumbai Indians’ batter came into the middle on the second ball of the seventh over. He took a while before nailing his very first boundary against Ravi Bishnoi straight down the ground. For the next 10 overs, the left-handed batter didn’t get a single four off his blade.

Suryakumar Yadav was earning the fours comfortably around the park but was not getting sufficient help from the other end. Finally, on the final of the 17th over, the Hyderabad batter slashed the short ball over the wicketkeeper’s head for a boundary.

It was too late for the batter to get in an aggressive mood. The required run rate was getting out of hand for the southpaw. A couple of overs later, the Mumbai Indians management decided to retire the Indian batter and sent Mitchell Santner in the middle to get the job done with captain Hardik Pandya.

Also Read: Ex-India Players Tear Apart Hardik Pandya After His Cunning Act vs Tilak Varma

Harbhajan Singh criticizes Mumbai Indians' decision to retire out Tilak Verma

The former Indian off-spinner and an ex-Mumbai Indians’ captain, Harbhajan Singh, reckoned that it was a wrong decision from the franchise to retire the Indian batter and send the New Zealand white-ball captain, who, in comparison to Tilak Varma, was not a better hitter of the ball.

“Retiring Tilak for Santer was a mistake, in my opinion. Is Santner a better hitter than Tilak? If it were for Pollard or some other accomplished hitter, I would have understood. But don’t agree with this. Come on, Mumbai Indians!!” Harbhajan Singh wrote on his X handle (formerly known as Twitter).

Retiring Tilak for Santer was a mistake in my opinion . Is Santner a better hitter than Tilak ? If it was for Pollard or some other accomplished hitter I would have understood . But Don’t agree with this . Come on @mipaltan

— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) April 4, 2025

In 41 overall innings of the IPL, the Hyderabad batter has clubbed 1251 runs at an average of 39.09 and a strike rate of 143.14, notching six half-centuries at the best score of unbeaten 84 runs. However, in this season, he has struggled with just 95 runs in three innings at a strike rate of 113.09.

Mahela Jayawardene reveals plan to retire after Tilak Verma

At the end of the encounter, during the post-match press conference, Hardik Pandya, the Mumbai Indians’ captain, revealed that there was no surprise factor in the decision.

“It was obvious that we needed some hits, and he was not getting. In cricket, one of those days comes when you try, but it does not happen. I think the decision speaks for itself why we did it.” Hardik addressed the defeat.

Mumbai Indians’ head coach, Mahela Jayawardene, portrayed the decision to retire out Tilak as a tactical decision as they felt it was important to send someone fresh in the middle.

“Because he spent some time there, he should have been able to get that hit out of the way. But, I just felt that at the end, I just needed someone fresh to go, and he was struggling when these things happened in cricket. It wasn't nice to take him out, but I had to do that. And, it was a tactical decision at that point.” The former Sri Lankan captain added during the press confere.

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