Jaipur, April 28 (H.S.): The condition of Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 has become extremely precarious. With only two wins out of nine matches, the team is second from the bottom in the points table. Although mathematically there is still a chance for the playoffs, bowling coach Shane Bond acknowledged that the path ahead looks difficult for the team this season. Nevertheless, he assured that the team and players are fully committed to giving their best performance in the remaining five league matches.
Rajasthan Royals have lost some recent matches by very close margins. Shane Bond said at a press conference on Sunday, The hardest thing is that we were in control of the match for almost 35 overs, but in the last moments, the opposing teams proved to be better than us. If you look at the points table, you think about where we could have been, but nothing can be done now.
He further stated, Maybe we are now out of the tournament, but there is still a lot at stake. It's important for the team to finish the season strongly and for individuals to prove themselves for the future.”
This season, Rajasthan's troubles have been multifaceted. Captain Sanju Samson has been largely out of the team due to injury, which forced 22-year-old Riyan Parag to take over the captaincy and 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryanshi to open the batting. Although Vaibhav showcased glimpses of his talent, inconsistent performances from the other batsmen have hurt the team.
Rajasthan has lost while chasing the target five times so far. Despite scoring the fastest runs in the powerplay, the team has failed to maintain the run rate in the middle and death overs. The performance of the spinners has also been very poor, with their economy rate (9.16) and strike rate (23) being among the worst in the league.
Bond defended his bowling unit, saying, In the last three matches, we restricted opposing teams to scores that we could easily chase. We missed opportunities, especially in batting.
Jofra Archer bowled well but could not take wickets as regularly as Gujarat Titans' Prasidh Krishna did. Tushar Deshpande and Sandeep Sharma also could not prove effective in crucial moments.
The match against Gujarat Titans on Monday will be a 'do or die' situation for Rajasthan. Losing would shatter their last hopes of making the playoffs, but winning would keep the team in the race for a while longer.
Shane Bond said, Last year we won almost all our home matches. This time it has changed, and many teams have not adjusted well to home conditions. Our first goal now is to finish the season respectably. The players' spirit and hard work will remain until the last day.
Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
