Mohammad Kaif explains why replacing Tilak Varma with Mitchell Santner was a poor decision

Tilak Varma IPL 2025: A schoking decision by the Mumbai Indians to retire out Tilak Varma to put Mitchell Santner on the field at a moment when they badly need someone who could hit hard and take the team to the finishing line. Former international Mohammad Kaif explains why this was an unwise decision, which only helped the Mumbai Indians to lose the match. 

Read More: LSG vs MI, IPL 2025: Why is Tilak Varma Retired Out? Was it the Right Decision?

Last night (April 5) it was a rare scene in the Indian Premier League—a batter, who is capable of hitting big, was retiring out only to be replaced by a full-time spinner who can add some runs on the scoreboard at the 18.5 over of the match. How can this make sense? Cricket fans and pundits are raising questions. Then, the question was pretty legal, 'Why did the Mumbai Indians replace Tilak Verma and send Mitchell Santner?" The question turns into a controversy like a wildfire as Mumbai Indians fail to chase down the target given by Lucknow Super Giants. 

Batting first, LSG scored 203 runs for 8 wickets at the Ekana Cricket Stadium. According to Mohammad Kaif, "Ekana Stadium is not a small stadium, and scoring 200-plus runs in this ground is not an easy task to do, but Lucknow Super Giants have done it. I think, in this match, Mumbai Indians bowlers could do a better job and halt the opponent to a relatively lower score, which they failed to do." 

Mumbai's batting 

During the chase of the target, MI's openers went back into the hut without making a notable impact on the scoreboard before Naman Dhir and Suryakumar Yadav played 46 and 67-run innings, respectively. If the Mumbai-based franchise continued this momentum, then they could've easily chased down the total. After Dhir and Kumar, it was all on captain Hardik Pandya and Tilak Varma's back. Pandya remained not out with 28 runs in 16 balls, and Varma was replaced at 18.5 overs when he was batting at 25 off 23 deliveries. Santner, who replaced Varma, scored only 2 in 2 balls before the match was summed off. 

Kaif explains why replacing Varma was a wrong call

Kaif said in a video, "Tilak Varma could be the possible man who has the ability to chase down the target from this situation. But Mitchell Santner? Maybe he had hit some sixes before, but not some who can drive the momentum. It was clearly a wrong decision by the Mumbai Indians. Even Hardik Pandya hesitated to put Santner on strike."