“As a young batter, if I am retired out, it would mentally scar me” - Wasim Akram

Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram has stated that he would be mentally scarred if he was a batter and was retired out in T20 cricket. Akram added that the increasing use of the rule will be a learning curve for the youngsters.

Punjab Kings (PBKS) batter Atharva Taide retired out for 55 off 42 in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 clash against Delhi Capitals (DC) in Dharamsala on May 17. PBKS were chasing 214 for victory and went down by 15 runs despite Liam Livingstone’s 94 off 48 balls.

Akram and former India batters Mohammad Kaif and Wasim Jaffer engaged in a debate on the pros and cons of the retired out rule on Sportskeeda.

Making his views amply clear, Akram opined:

“If I am batter and somebody tells me that, ‘you are playing slowly, so come out’, I will be a bit upset with myself. That’s the learning curve for all the youngsters. This is something very new in shorter format. In Test cricket, we have seen players retiring because a team has to declare. But here [T20s], asking a player to retire when he is finding momentum, that’s something new and different for me.

“As a young batter, if I am retired out, it would mentally scar me.”

Kaif backed the Pakistan legend and described the decision of retiring out Taide as a totally wrong call.

“When Taide was asked to come out, I said on commentary that I am totally against it," the former batter stated. "I said that it was a totally wrong call. I know Punjab had big hitters like Shahrukh Khan and Sam Curran waiting in the wings. There was Jitesh Sharma as well. But Taide was batting on 60 [55] and was scoring at a strike rate of 130. He was not batting slowly, but Punjab felt so.

“My question to Punjab coach Trevor Bayliss is - show me one instance in history where a batter has retired on 60 and the new batter has scored 30 off 10 to win the match for the team?” Kaif added.

Rajasthan Royals’ (RR) Ravichandran Ashwin was the first player to retire out in the IPL during the 2022 edition.

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Wasim Jaffer opens up on Taide’s surprising reaction after being retired out

Jaffer, who was Punjab Kings’ batting coach during IPL 2023, had a different take on the matter. Explaining the rationale behind the move, he said that PBKS needed to score quick runs, something Taide was unable to do.

“I was in the Punjab dugout. The required run rate had climbed to 13 or 14. Jitesh Sharma was in great form, there was Sam Curran as well. He [Taide] was not able to strike the big hits. He was tired after crossing 40," Jaffer stated.

On how Taide reacted to being retired out, Jaffer revealed that the batter had quite a surprising response.

“I spoke to him afterwards and I was surprised with his response. He was saying, he felt that he will be called in an over earlier. He was unhappy that he played 40-45 balls, but could score 70. He said that [retiring him out] was totally understandable,” Jaffer elaborated.

Taide came into bat at No. 3 in the chase against DC. His 55 off 42 balls featured five fours and two sixes. He retired out at the end of the 15th over, with Punjab’s score at 128.