Since the beginning of IPL 2025, the Rajasthan Royals (RR) have struggled to achieve the proper team balance. The issue was that they failed to provide themselves with a suitable sixth bowling option against Gujarat Titans (GT) on Wednesday night. Even though Maheesh Theekshana, Tushar Deshpande, and Sandeep Sharma proved costly, costing well over ten an over, they didn’t pass the ball to the part-timers, including Riyan Parag. RR “had to have a sixth bowling option,” Sanjay Bangar remarked following GT’s 217 for 6 and 58-run victory chase.
“The ball was coming on wonderfully, and it was a great wicket to bat on. On the ESPNcricinfo TimeOut show, Bangar stated, “Jofra [Archer] was the standout bowler; he really took advantage of the little bit of pace and bounce.” However, aside from him, it seemed to me that the Rajasthan Royals needed a sixth bowling option to relieve some of the load on the other bowlers. You definitely felt they were under the pump in such batting-friendly conditions.
Wanindu Hasaranga opted out of the game for personal reasons, so RR was without him for the match. Although his substitute, Fazalhaq Farooqi, went at 9.50, which was not awful given the situation, it was still a blow. Despite bowling the eighteenth over, Archer was the most economical at 7.50. Importantly, there were no wickets lost in the nearly seven overs between 2.1 and 9.6, and then again for 5.4 overs following that.
“I think they missed Hasaranga, somebody who could take wickets in the middle overs,” Wasim Jaffer stated. Despite taking a few wickets (2 for 54), Theekshana didn’t appear to be exerting much strain. In those eight overs, he and Tushar [2 for 53] went for 50+, costing them over 100 runs.
The foundation created by RR’s failure to take more wickets in the middle overs allowed GT to score a lot of runs in the final five, which were 18, 13, 11, 14, and 16.
“I believe they batted well, but we could have handed them maybe 20 runs less. Their collaborations were superior to ours. At the press conference, RR’s spin bowling coach Sairaj Bahutule stated, “That’s why they got a total which was big.” “In the T20 format, there are instances when the execution doesn’t proceed as planned. They clearly had ideas, but they didn’t carry them out as planned.
“The last few overs, the death overs, we could have done a bit better.”
The wisdom of using exactly six batters despite the Impact Player rule was questioned following RR’s second game of the season. Sanju Samson was limited as a hitter due to a finger injury, and Parag was the captain at the time. However, it appeared that they were almost at the ideal combination after their most recent game, which was a victory over Punjab Kings (PBKS).
Oddly enough, GT isn’t even pursuing it. For them, adaptability is crucial. “No one has a role,” assistant coach Parthiv Patel stated, adding that anything can happen based on the pitch’s condition and other factors.
“For our team, it’s about knowing the situation, understanding the conditions, and we felt we might need a fourth seamer in the second innings [so Kulwant Khejroliya came in as Impact Sub],” Parthiv stated. As a team, we are adaptable. We respond to the circumstances that we observe around us.
The execution follows.
“I thought every bowler came in and carried out their plans pretty well, especially on a ground like today. [R] Sai Kishore is arguably the finest spinner in this tournament based on his bowling style, bravery, and ability to bowl in challenging conditions. [Mohammed] Siraj is obviously bowling pretty well, and Prasidh Krishna has been outstanding throughout the competition.
You watch a different bowler walk forward after each match. You win games with bowlers. It was obviously set up by batters.
this was not the case for Rajasthan Royals .
On the plus side, though, Archer has kept up his impressive play despite a dismal tournament debut.
“T20 is a game where you’re bound to make mistakes, and [if you] minimise your mistakes, you’ll be in a better position,” Bahutule stated. “He worked closely with Shane Bond, the fast-bowling coach, after that first game to understand some aspects of his bowling, and the only reason he has recovered is because he knows where he needs to improve and what areas, lengths, and lines he needs to work on.
“He’s a world-class bowler and obviously understood his areas of concern and he rectified it and he’s bowling in the best rhythm we have seen him.”
India
