IPL 2025: Modern-day cricket is more tactical, says Jayawardene on Tilak Varma's 'injured-out' decision

With the Mumbai Indians needing quick runs in their chase of 204 at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow, the team management asked Varma, who was struggling to put away the ball and had managed to score only 25 from 23 balls, to come back to the dugout and send Mitchell Santner instead to blast a few big ones.

Mumbai lost the match by 12 runs, and the move by the team management kicked up a storm on social media, with many former India players criticising it and terming it a blunder by MI, which will impact the morale of the players.

But on Monday, ahead of their upcoming clash with Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Jayawardene defended his decision and said modern-day cricket is more tactical.

“I know it’s (controversy) created by everyone. But modern-day game is much more tactical. We keep changing batting line-ups to match up certain bowling line-ups and all that. I don't see how different that is,” Jayawardene said in the pre-match press conference ahead of the RCB clash.

Jayawardene said Tilak Varma was struggling to hit big ones, and the opposition was bowling well to him. So, he decided to send Santner in.

“As a batsman, I've had times where you go to bat and then you struggle to get through and they bowl well to you, it’s a combination of that.”

“He (Tilak Varma) batted very well for us in the last three games, in) tough situations like we've lost wickets early, and he's built those partnerships and got us to situations that we need to. That's what his role with that experience, what he brings to the game, and I still value that," he said.

It is altogether another matter that Jayawardene's decision had left India T20 captain Suryakumar Yadav perplexed, and television cameras have captured his stunned reaction.