IPL 2025: Kaif slams teams for misusing retired out rule in close finishes

Former India cricketer and current commentator Mohammad Kaif took a strong stance against the increasing use of the retired out tactic in the ongoing IPL 2025 seasonTwo highprofile instances have already surfaced this year drawing widespread attention and mixed reactionsThe first case occurred during Match 16 when Mumbai Indians made the surprise call to retire Tilak Varma Despite being unbeaten on 25 off 23 deliveries Varma was withdrawn with MI needing 24 runs off the final seven balls against Lucknow Super Giants The decision raised eyebrows and ultimately did not pay off as MI failed to cross the lineMore recently Chennai Super Kings chose to retire a wellset Devon Conway in their match against Punjab Kings Conway had compiled a solid 69 off 49 balls but with 49 runs required from the last 13 deliveries CSK opted for a new batter in an attempt to increase the scoring rate Much like MI the move failed to change the games course and CSK ended up on the losing sideWeighing in on the trend Kaif shared his concerns on social media suggesting that teams are resorting to this unconventional tactic more out of desperation than strategy citing the example of Rahul Tewatias famous innings for the Royals against PBKS in IPL 2020 when Tewatia turned his slow start around dramatically to win the match for his teamldquoTeams using retired out option more out of frustration it is a tactic that rarely works as there are very few batters who can hit a 6 on first ball they face Most times it is the struggling batsman on crease who has a better chance of winning the game Remember Tewatia he hit 5 sixes in 5 balls after he has made 8 runs of 19 ballsrdquo he wrote on his X accountTeams using retired out option more out of frustration it is a tactic that rarely works as there are very few batters who can hit a 6 on first ball they face Most times it is the struggling batsman on crease who has a better chance of winning the game Remember Tewatia he hithellipmdash Mohammad Kaif MohammadKaif April 9 2025So far only five players have been retired out in IPL history Ravichandran Ashwin was the pioneer doing so for Rajasthan Royals in 2022 against LSG Since then Atharva Taide PBKS 2023 Sai Sudharsan GT 2023 Tilak Varma MI 2025 and Devon Conway CSK 2025 have followed suit Interestingly the tactic has yielded wins only twice for Rajasthan Royals and Gujarat TitansatOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params