Rajasthan Royals’ head coach Rahul Dravid backs batters following disappointing performance against Punjab Kings

JAIPUR: After his team’s defeat against the Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the Indian Premier League (IPL 2025), Rajasthan Royals (RR) head coach Rahul Dravid backed his batters following their disappointing performance in the 59th encounter of the ongoing 18th edition of the cash-rich league.

An exceptional bowling performance from left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar guided the Punjab Kings (PBKS) team to victory over the Rajasthan Royals (RR) by 10 runs at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium on Sunday.

With this win, the Punjab side moved to the second spot (17 points in 12 games). On the other hand, the Rajasthan team slipped to the ninth position (6 points in 13 matches) in the IPL 2025 points table.

Speaking on the team’s loss at the post-match press conference, Rahul Dravid said as quoted by ESPNcricinfo, “There’s no point just blaming the batters. I think with the ball, too, to be honest, I didn’t think it was a 220 wicket; it was about a 195, 200 wicket, and we gave 20 runs extra. If we look at the numbers, we are probably not good enough with the ball, both at taking wickets and controlling runs. We are chasing 200-220 every game.”

Opting to bat first, PBKS was 34/3. Following that, a 67-run stand between skipper Shreyas Iyer (30 in 25 balls, five fours) and Nehal Wadhera (70 in 37 balls, with five fours and five sixes) and a 58-run partnership between Wadhera and Shashank Singh (59* in 30 balls, with five fours and three sixes) solidified PBKS’s hold on the game. Then an explosive partnership between Shashank and Azmatullah Omarzai (21* in three balls, with three fours and a six) took PBKS to 219/5 in their 20 overs.

Tushar Deshpande (2/37) was the leading wicket-taker for RR.

In the run-chase, young openers Yashasvi Jaiswal (50 in 25 balls, with nine fours and a six) and Vaibhav Suryavanshi (40 in 15 balls, with four boundaries and four sixes) provided RR with the start they needed, getting 76 runs in just 4.5 overs. RR kept up with the run-rate despite losing wickets later, with Dhruv Jurel (53 in 31 balls, with six fours and four sixes) playing another fine knock. However, other batters failed to respond to the scoreboard pressure, falling 11 runs short, with RR finishing at 209/7.

Harpreet Brar (3/22) was the top bowler for PBKS. Marco Jansen (2/41) and Omarzai (2/44) also were solid with the ball. (ANI)