Crumbling in the crunch: Royals left searching after another botched chase

Rajasthan Royals' recent campaigns have followed a familiar arc: strong starts followed by a sharp decline. In IPL 2025, that slide has been steeper. Seven defeats in nine games, including five in a row, have left them reeling, with a third of the league stage still to go.

What's more worrying is the manner of their last three defeats. Each has come while chasing targets that seemed well within reach. Against Delhi Capitals and Lucknow Super Giants, they needed just nine off the final over. Against RCB, it was 18 off the last two, yet they lost by 11 runs.

"In all three games, we needed nine runs an over, and in T20s these days, with the kind of hitting ability we have, that shouldn't be difficult," seamer Sandeep Sharma said after their latest loss. "But we're losing wickets at key moments. When we try to accelerate, it's not clicking. We're not executing our plans under pressure."

The Royals were chasing a steep total of 205 on a tricky Chinnaswamy surface, but were aided in their quest by little dew as well as a blistering innings up top from Yashasvi Jaiswal, who hit 49 off just 19 balls. The visitors had 110 on the board after nine overs and needed to just manage the chase against RCB's spin to see it over the line. Instead, captain Riyan Parag's dismissal triggered a collapse. Dhruv Jurel, who had battled out of a slow start, fell for a 34-ball 47, another failed finish in a growing pattern.

The Royals have been among the fastest-scoring teams in the PowerPlay this season and have cleared the ropes 37 times in the first six overs - the most by any team. But the middle overs have been their undoing: 26 wickets lost (second-most after KKR) and a boundary percentage of just 16, behind only KKR and CSK.

"We haven't been able to grab the crunch moments, whether chasing or defending," Sandeep said. "In T20s, every team gets those moments. You have to take them. This year, we're dropping crucial catches, losing wickets right when we need to push the scoring. That's been the problem, we're crumbling under pressure."

"Last season, we were nailing those moments. Same players - Riyan, Dhruv, Yashasvi - were delivering. And we were fielding better. That's something we're missing this year."

Parag, standing in as captain for the injured Sanju Samson, pinned the blame on the batters and their inability to redirect the pressure applied by the RCB spin pair. "With our batting halfway through our innings, we were in the driver's seat. We needed probably eight and a half runs per over in the last 10-11 overs. I think we've got ourselves to blame, we didn't show enough intent against the spinners. We could have executed our batting a little bit better," he said.

When asked if the challenges are more mental than tactical, Parag said: "The support staff has given us a lot of freedom. The onus is on the players and ourselves that we need to go ahead and show that freedom and show performances with intent and play freely. It's a tournament where if you make one slight mistake, you're gonna pay for it. And that's what happened today."