Lucknow In the last minutes of their arduous 201-run chase against the Lucknow Super Giants on Friday night, Mumbai Indians head coach Mahela Jayawardene made the audacious tactical choice to throw out Tilak Varma. In a last-ditch effort to give the pursuit new life, Jayawardene made a football-style replacement, swapping Mitchell Santner for Tilak, who had scored 25 off 23 balls, with 24 runs required off the last seven deliveries.

After Tilak spent a lot of time at the crease but was unable to establish boundaries, the decision was made. Tilak first showed promise by forming a reliable combination with Suryakumar Yadav, coming in at No. 5 at a crucial point in the game when MI was 86 for 3 in the ninth over. However, the southpaw was unable to find the acceleration as the chase became more intense, particularly when Suryakumar was dismissed in the 17th over, which significantly swung the match in LSG’s favor.

When we lost that wicket, I believe Tilak played effectively for us, and his combination with Surya was essential. During the news conference held after the game, Jayawardene said, “He just couldn’t get going towards the end.” I waited till the last few overs in the hopes that he would get that huge hit away since he had been there for a while. However, he was having trouble, and I thought we needed a new person.

Many people questioned Jayawardene’s choice, seeing it as a risk. But he remained steadfast, supporting the call’s team-first philosophy.

MI captain Hardik Pandya supported the decision as well, accepting responsibility for the team’s batting performance as a whole. As a team, we triumph. As a team, we lose. I don’t want to name anybody. “The entire batting unit must take ownership,” Hardik said. “I accept whole responsibility. Clearly, we needed some hits. In cricket, there are days like that.

The Mumbai Indians ultimately lost by 12 runs, giving the Lucknow Super Giants a hard-fought victory, therefore the ruse did not work.