‘With Someone Like Rahul Dravid…’: Former India Legend Baffled With Rajasthan Royals’ Hat-trick of Botched Run-chases in IPL 2025

Former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar was “baffled” to witness three consecutive botched chases of the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. He discussed the contradiction of mindsets between RR head coach Rahul Dravid and the players. Moreover, he criticised them for playing “unthinking cricket” throughout their recent three matches.

“I was at the ground, and you could actually see the kind of cricket that was being played. And with someone like Rahul Dravid as the coach, it was quite baffling, it was unthinking cricket. Dravid was always so precise in his thinking, and I would’ve thought that kind of approach would’ve seeped into some of the Rajasthan batters,” he said to the broadcasters after the match.

Gavaskar slams RR intent

The legendary batter also questioned RR’s strategy. Heading into the match against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), the franchise had bottled their recent two games against the Delhi Capitals (DC) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG).

Even after a smashing start by their star opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, the middle-order failed to score nine runs in the last over twice. DC defeated them in the super-over, while LSG managed to win a last-over thriller to defeat RR by two runs.

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Their last match defeat against RCB also came in a similar manner. The RR middle-order consisting of skipper Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel and Shimron Hetmyer couldn’t capitalise after Jaiswal’s blazing start to the innings with his 49 off just 19 balls at an astonishing strike rate of 257.89.

“Where is the thought process there? You can’t expect inexperienced players to always get it right, but still, it’s just a different kind of cricket,” opined Gavaskar.

Royals’ IPL 2025 Playoff Chances

With just two wins in nine matches of the IPL 2025 so far, RR is currently in eighth place in the points table. They need to win all five of their remaining matches to keep hopes alive for a chance to qualify for the playoffs.

However, considering their current form and the kind of season they have had so far, that does not seem very feasible now. The Men in Pink will take on the table toppers Gujarat Titans at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium next on April 28.

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