Former India captain Kris Srikkanth has slammed the Rajasthan Royals for their poor decision-making in the team’s loss to the Delhi Capitals in Delhi on Sunday.
Among other tactical calls, the harshest one RR took was to drop veteran all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and play the inexperienced Ravi Singh instead. Srikkanth also criticised RR’s use of the Impact Player.
Rajasthan Royals lose three in a row
The Royals’ loss to DC on Sunday extended their losing streak to three matches in IPL 2026. Much like their season, RR could not capitalise on their excellent start and faltered at the end. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi did what he does best. Dispatching bowlers to the boundary. To him, it did not really matter if it was Mitchell Starc or Lungi Ngidi in front of him; all of them traveled.
Sooryavanshi made 46 from just 21 balls, but had an important partnership of 70 with Dhruv Jurel. Jurel and RR captain Riyan Parag made fifties and put up 72 in 7 overs. But Starc came back in the 15th over, and RR never recovered. Starc took the wickets of Parag, Donovan Ferreira, and Ravi Singh in the space of four balls.
Rajasthan never seemed to come back from that as they slipped from 161/2 to 193/8 at the end of their 20 overs. Starc added the wicket of Dasun Shanaka in the nineteenth over to win the Player of the Match Award.
Abhishek Porel and KL Rahul made fifties in the chase and put up 105 for the first wicket. But DC’s middle order couldn’t keep up with them. Axar Patel held through the collapse with a crucial stand of 20 with Tristan Stubbs before adding 22 with David Miller. In the end, Ashutosh Sharma’s cameo got the job done.
“Something is not right with this team” – Srikkanth on Rajasthan Royals
Srikkanth spoke on his YouTube channel about the Rajasthan Royals and said that he didn’t think all was well with the IPL’s inaugural champions.
“With qualification at stake, you make such a move. This match was the easiest chance for them against DC. Jadeja was a compulsory must for this match. How can you not play him in the 11? It was an absurd move. I am convinced there is something wrong with the team. Parag didn’t even come to receive his trophy for the maximum sixes. So there is something internally wrong within the team,” he said.
“It was stupidity not playing one of Jadeja or Bishnoi. Is Ravi Singh a replacement for Jadeja? Jadeja is a gun all-rounder, and you replace him with a young batter like Ravi Singh in a crucial match. It felt like RR didn’t want to win this match. It looked like they played to lose. Parag batted brilliantly, but the will to win seems to be missing within the team. They have lost their mind not playing Jadeja,” he added.
Srikkanth also criticised Rajasthan Royals’ use of the Impact Player rule. Rajasthan Royals replaced Shubham Dubey with Dasun Shanaka during their batting innings, but the move didn’t quite work out.
Shanaka made 10 runs in 8 balls before falling to Starc, and with the ball, dismissed KL Rahul, conceding 29 runs from his three overs.
“It was another stupid move. You are already a bowler short without Jadeja, and you bring in Shanaka just for the death overs. Archer himself could have done what Shanaka did. Shanaka did nothing with the bat or ball. He just got one fluke wicket of KL Rahul,” said Srikkanth
Srikkanth also criticised Riyan Parag’s call to hand the ball to Donovan Ferreira in the 18th over. DC needed 35 runs to win from three overs with Axar Patel and David Miller on strike. Rajasthan Royals’ skipper gave the ball to the off-spinner in search of a matchup opportunity. The move didn’t materialise as Ferreira gave away 16 runs, including two sixes.
“He’s bowling that over because of two left-handers. Is he even an actual off-spinner? Shanaka should have bowled instead. After he gave 16 runs, Parag is throwing his cap as if it’s someone else’s fault. You captained foolishly. Why are you throwing your cap towards him? There are some rumblings within the team 100%,” he added.
Rajasthan Royals’ upcoming schedule and playoffs scenarios
The Rajasthan Royals have struggled in the back half of the tournament after an amazing first half. They won each of their first four matches, but have gone on to lose 6 of their last 8 matches, including each of their last three, to finish with 12 points after 12 matches.
RR now needs to win both of their remaining matches to make the playoffs, but even then, they will need other results to go their way. Losing both matches will surely eliminate them, while winning just one of the two gives them a chance of sneaking in, but with other results needing to go their way.
The Rajasthan Royals will play the Lucknow Super Giants in Jaipur on May 19, and then play the Mumbai Indians in Mumbai on May 24.