IPL 2025: Irfan, Harbhajan express discontent with MI's decision to retire Tilak for Santner against LSG

The atmosphere was electric when Mumbai managed to bring the equation down to 29 needed from 12 deliveries in pursuit of a daunting 204-run target in Lucknow's home den. Lucknow skipper Rishabh Pant turned to the franchise's most experienced quick, Shardul Thakur, and handed the responsibility to see off the penultimate over.

With Tilak and Hardik Pandya holding the striker and non-striker's end, one expects nothing but a high-class belligerent strokeplay, which leads to destruction.

However, Tilak, who was struggling to muster up boundaries up to that point, continued with it while Hardik too fell flat in his attempt to make a case for Mumbai's victory. Five balls into the penultimate, Mumbai decided to swap Tilak for Mitchell Santner, raising questions about the visitors' approach.

Even after retiring Tilak, MI's fate didn't change; as the five-time champions surrendered a 12-run defeat, their third in the 18th edition of the cash-rich Indian Premier League.

For Harbhajan, retiring Tilak for Santner was a "mistake", in his opinion. He even questioned if the New Zealand white-ball skipper is a better striker of the ball than Tilak. Harbhajan would have been content with the decision of a power-hitter like Pollard, or a player of his calibre, had taken Tilak's place.

"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," Harbhajan wrote on X.

Irfan, too, tried to make sense of the decision but couldn't and wrote on X, "Tilak Verma retired out n Santner coming in? Doesn't make sense to me. What do you guys think?"

Mumbai Indians head coach Mahela Jayawardene addressed the questions around the heated decision after the match. He labelled Santner coming in for Tilak as "tactical", and he needed someone fresh to reduce the soaring asking rate as the game headed towards its conclusion. For Mumbai skipper Hardik, the decision to retire Tilak was "obvious", as he explained in the post-match presentation, "We needed some hits. In cricket, some of those days come. When you try but it doesn't come off."