“Tilak Verma Would Be Devastated”- Ex-India Coach Crushes Mumbai Indians

The decision to retire Tilak Verma didn’t come at an early stage, and neither the replacement batter had better power and skill to nail the big shots in the last few deliveries during the chase against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the Ekhana Stadium.

Lucknow batted first to post over 200 runs on the board in the first inning, thanks to the joint half-centuries from both the opening batters, Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram. Ayush Badoni and David Miller also contributed well to carry the side over the winning margin.

Tilak Verma struggles to find rhythm against the Mumbai Indians

The left-handed batter of the Mumbai Indians came into the crease on the second ball of the seventh over, just after the dismissal of Naman Dhir. He struggled from the start to get the balls to the boundary before not nailing any four or six for the next 10 overs.

Also Read: Watch- Hardik Pandya Burst Into Tears After Mumbai Indians' Crushing Defeat vs LSG

Tilak Verma used his feet to get a four on the 17th over. But that was too late for the Hyderabad-born. The pressure was immense on the Mumbai batters, especially with the dismissal of Suryakumar Yadav.

Suddenly, a call came from the dressing room as Tilak Verma was seen to be walking out of the park for 25 runs in 23 balls, replacing Mitchell Santner.

Sanjay Banger blames Mumbai Indians’ decision to retire Tilak Verma

The former Indian head coach, Sanjay Bangar, reckoned that retiring the left-handed middle-order batter at that stage of the game didn’t work for the franchise. The decision surprised him, and he felt it would have been understandable if they had Kieron Pollard in the line-up.

“I don’t think it impacted the game in any way, retiring him. If he had retired slightly earlier, that could have affected how much to be gotten in the last over or so. But what it does is that- Santner got what? Two balls to face? And maybe Tilak would have got a couple of deliveries.” Bangar addressed this during an interaction with ESPNcricinfo.

The veteran batter also explained that the decision to retire Verma would break down the southpaw mentally before the next fixture against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

“So, it wasn’t like that Pollard was walking or something like that. So what you do is that you are sort of putting down one of your top players and Tilak Verma would be devastated with that.” The ex-Indian coach revealed.

Mark Boucher leaks conversations with Tilak Verma after batting failure

The former head coach of the franchise, Mark Bucher, revealed that Tilak could have tried to use the crease a bit more to install a few different shots around the park, which Pollard may advise him for the future.

Also Read: Watch: LSG Head Coach Hilariously Answers Reporter’s Call At The Press Conference

“Look, Tilak Verma played a decent role in his partnership with Surya. You would expect him with his talents and that, to be able to, you know, up his tempo. It wasn’t just happening for him. I think they bowled well at him.” The former Mumbai Indians’ head coach highlighted during the same show on ESPNcricinfo.

“He could have perhaps taken a couple of options, moved around the crease bit more. That will be a conversation that Poly will probably have with him at a later stage but I don’t think it had an impact on the game.” Mark Boucher concluded.

Tilak Verma will be eager to make an impact in their next game against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Wankhede Stadium.