Former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif has raised his voice against the growing trend of ‘retired out’ tactic in the Indian Premier League, saying that it is more an act of frustration than strategy.

His remarks came after Chennai Super Kings (CSK) retired out opener Devon Conway during their IPL 2025 fixture against Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Mullanpur on Tuesday (April 8).

Conway, who was batting on 69 off 49 balls, walked off in the 18th over as CSK were chasing a daunting target of 220. He was replaced by Ravindra Jadeja with 49 runs needed from just 13 balls. Despite the move, the five-time champions fell short by 18 runs.

This was the second instance of a batter retiring out tactically in the ongoing IPL. Earlier, Mumbai Indians did the same with Tilak Varma against Lucknow Super Giants.

Taking to social media platform X, Kaif wrote: "Teams using retired out option more out of frustration. It's 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 off 19 balls."

Kaif’s post has triggered the debate whether the ‘retired out’ rule is a useful innovation or a desperate gamble.

As of today, five players have been asked to retire out by the IPL teams while batting. The trend started with R Ashwin in 2022 while Atharva Taide and Sai Sudharsan were at the receiving end of this rule in 2023.

While no such case was witnessed in the 2024 edition, the IPL 2025 season has already seen two cases in 23 completed matches so far.