New Delhi: After a crushing 100-run defeat against the Mumbai Indians on Thursday, Rajasthan Royals have officially become the second team, after Chennai Super Kings, to be eliminated from IPL 2025. In a do-or-die game against MI, RR captain Riyan Parag chose to bowl first, a decision that turned out to be costly.
The MI batters took full advantage of sloppy bowling and fielding and posted a massive total of 217/2 in their 20 overs.
Chasing the huge target, Rajasthan’s batting troubles continued. Their lineup collapsed once again, getting bowled out for just 117 runs in 16.1 overs. With this loss, RR have now lost 8 out of their 11 matches. Even if they win their remaining games, the maximum points they can reach is 12, while at least 14 points are needed to stay in the playoff race.
Let’s take a look at some key reasons why Rajasthan Royals failed to perform this season, leading to their early exit from the tournament.
1) Poor Retention and Auction Strategy
RR made major mistakes by releasing three of their key players before the mega auction. Jos Buttler, one of the best overseas batters in IPL history, was surprisingly released. Even worse, they didn’t even buy any experienced overseas batter to replace him in the auction.
They also released Yuzvendra Chahal, the highest wicket-taker in the tournament’s history. He was picked up by Punjab Kings and is currently in top form, with two four-wicket hauls and a hat-trick, winning matches single-handedly for his team.
Another shocking release was Trent Boult, one of New Zealand’s best bowlers. Known for swinging the ball both ways and taking early wickets, Boult had consistently delivered for RR in the last three seasons.
Now playing for the Mumbai Indians, he is consistently grabbing 2-3 wickets with the new ball in almost every game. Despite their consistent performances over the years for RR, all three were released without a clear plan, and RR failed to find proper replacements for them in the auction.
2) The curious case of Sanju Samson
Sanju Samson, the most experienced player in the Rajasthan Royals squad, was retained for Rs 18 crore before the mega auction and was expected to lead the team like he did last season. However, things didn’t go as planned. He suffered a finger injury during the IND vs ENG T20 series, and just before the tournament began, as a result, Riyan Parag was made captain for the first three matches, while Sanju played only as an impact player.
Sanju returned as captain for the next four games, but during this period, the team was inconsistent and managed to win only 2 out of 7 matches. In the seventh game, while batting against Delhi Capitals, Sanju suffered an abdominal injury and was retired hurt.
This injury caused him to miss the next four matches. With Sanju out of the playing XI, Shimron Hetmyer is the only experienced batter left in the lineup. Without their regular captain and main batter, the Rajasthan Royals have looked unsettled, and it’s been a major reason behind their poor batting performances.
3) Unable to handle the pressure
One of the key reasons why RR managed only 3 wins from their 11 games is their repeated failure to chase targets under pressure. Out of their 8 losses, 3 were games they should have won comfortably if the batters had shown more composure.
Against Delhi Capitals, they needed just 9 runs in the final over, but Shimron Hetmyer and Dhruv Jurel couldn’t finish the job, forcing a Super Over where they eventually lost. In the following match against Lucknow Super Giants, the scenario repeated itself, 9 runs were needed in the last over with Hetmyer and Jurel at the crease, but RR fell short by 2 runs.
Again, in the next game versus RCB, while chasing 206, RR had a solid start and brought the equation down to 18 from 12 balls. But once again, they collapsed and ended up losing by 11 runs. Had they held their nerve in these three matches, RR would be sitting on 12 points instead of 6 and would have been alive in the race for the playoffs.
4) Poor bowling attack
After releasing their core bowling line-up consisting of Trent Boult, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Ravichandran Ashwin, RR retained Dhruv Jurel for 14 crore and Shimron Hetmyer for 11 crore. They did retain Sandeep Sharma, but he got ruled out of the tournament mid-season.
After that, they did not have good money to build a formidable bowling unit. Out of the little money left, they bought pacer Jofra Archer for INR 12.5 cr, who is looking sharp this season, but other than that, there has been no stability in the bowling line-up.
Other than Jofra Archer, fast bowlers like Tushar Deshpande, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Akash Madhwal, and Yudhvir Singh have been rotated regularly. There hasn’t been any consistency in the pace attack.
Similarly, in the spin department, although Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, and Kumar Kartikeya were picked, none of them have featured in every match.
5) Underperforming middle order
After yesterday’s loss against the Mumbai Indians, Riyan Parag himself agreed that their middle order had been underperforming this season.
“We’ve been getting good starts, but it’s up to the middle order – myself, Dhruv – to step up in the middle overs,” Parag said in the post-match presentation.
Before the mega auction, RR retained three batters for a whopping price – Dhruv Jurel and Riyan Parag for Rs 14 crore each, and Shimron Hetmyer for Rs 11 crore – expecting them to be the backbone of their batting line-up this season. Unfortunately, this decision didn’t work out, as none of the three could find consistent form.
In 11 matches, captain Riyan Parag scored 282 runs at an average of 31.33. Dhruv Jurel had a similar season, making 249 runs in 11 games with an average of 35. Shimron Hetmyer, the most experienced among them, had a disappointing run, scoring just 187 runs in 11 matches.
RR needed at least two of these senior batters to step up, but sadly, all three underperformed. This was a key reason why RR struggled to finish games while chasing, even when they were in control while the top order batted.
Rajasthan Royals followed Chennai Super Kings on the exit route after suffering a humbling 100-run loss against Mumbai Indians. The 2008 champions were knocked out after losing eight out of the 11 matches. Here’re the five reasons behind their dismal campaign. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
