Just when things started to go Rajasthan Royals (RR), the Sanju Samson-led side was humbled by Gujarat Titans (GT) in the 23rd match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season. RR had started their season with two losses but turned it around with two successive victories, but once again they have tasted defeat.
217 vs GT was chaseable
Barring Jofra Archer, none of their bowlers were on song. Maheesh Theekshana got two wickets but gave away 54 runs in 4 overs. The same went for Tushar Deshpande; he finished with virtually the same figures. But GT’s 217 wasn’t an unachievable total. 200 or more targets have been chased down thrice before.
Sai Sudharsan, who was the best batter of the day, felt GT could have scored 15 more runs. “We understood the wicket was really good, so we wanted to push a bit more. The way we were going, we felt we could get 15 more, but this is still a great score,” he said after the first innings.
This suggests that RR could have chased this down. But a collective failure from everyone barring Shimron Hetmyer has seen RR lose by a whopping 58 runs. This defeat can destroy any qualification chances. In a tournament of slim margins like the IPL, the net run rate can be the decisive factor for making the playoffs.
Samson did moderately well, considering that he’s coming back from an injury and hasn’t been in the best of forms in the IPL 2025 season. Despite all of this, the RR captain managed to score 41 (28). The biggest issue is Yashasvi Jaiswal. After showing so much promise in 2023 and 2024, the southpaw opener hasn’t been anywhere close to his best so far.
Yashasvi Jaiswal’s struggles
Jaiswal has scored just 107 runs in 5 matches so far. It’s not just his run per innings but also his strike rate that was an issue. Against GT as well, not only didn’t he score, 6 (7), but he also wasted a few balls as well. Given how important the powerplay is, Jaiswal has failed to utilise the fielding restrictions.
Like Samson, he feels out of touch at the moment. But the RR captain has dug in and tried to get back to his best. Jaiswal seems to be hellbent on smashing his way out. While it may have worked in the past, right now it’s doing the trick. RR would hope he finds his form and that they make a recovery before it’s too late.
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