IPL 2025: Line of respect between team owners and players has to be there, says former WC winner

At the BRSABV Ekana Cricket Stadium, a struggling Varma, who had hit a 23-ball 25, became just the fourth batter to be retired out in an IPL game. Though Mitchell Santner came to replace him, it didn’t help MI’s cause as they eventually lost by 12 runs, as LSG pacer Avesh Khan defended 22 runs in the final over.

Not all people in the Indian cricketing fraternity seem to buy into Jayawardene’s logic of retiring out a capped India batter like Varma. “Franchise-based cricket may be financially rewarding for players, but often at the cost of their self-respect. There has to be a line (respect) between team owners and players—neither side should cross it.”

“Businessmen are justified in demanding accountability when they’re investing heavily, but excessive involvement can damage both the spirit of the players and the beauty of the game,” a member of a World Cup-winning team, on the condition of anonymity, told IANS on Saturday.

After the match ended, head coach Mahela Jayawardene had called the decision to retire out Varma as an unfortunate but tactical requirement. "He just wanted to get going but he couldn't. (We) waited till the last few overs, hoping that (he would find his rhythm), because he had spent some time there so 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. These things happen in cricket. Not nice to take him out but I had to do that, it was a tactical decision at that point."

When MI take the field against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in their IPL 2025 clash at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday, all eyes will once again be on how Varma fares on return to the home turf after being stuck and retired out in Lucknow.