Top News

Hope, they say, is the last thing ever lost. Rajasthan Royals clung to it until the very end and, on a tense Sunday evening at the Wankhede Stadium, that belief finally paid off.

After a string of damaging defeats, including losing three of its four home games in Jaipur, few expected the Royals to force their way into the Indian Premier League playoffs.

Yet, with its back firmly against the wall, Rajasthan Royals produced one final push to storm into the last four, defeating a star-studded, but bottom-placed Mumbai Indians in the process.

Coming into the final league fixture, the equation was simple: win or perish. And led by a fiery spell from Jofra Archer, who ripped through Mumbai Indians’ batting with three crucial wickets, Rajasthan ensured there would be no final stumble.

But while the result kept the campaign alive, it did little to hide the cracks that have repeatedly threatened to derail the Royals this season.

At various stages on Sunday, the game threatened to slip away as missed chances in the field, nervy decision-making and another middle-order wobble once again exposed Rajasthan’s vulnerabilities before Archer eventually guided the side home.

| Rajasthan Royals seals last Playoffs spot

And as the team now prepares for the Eliminator against Sunrisers Hyderabad in New Chandigarh, those concerns remain impossible to ignore.

Fielding, in particular, continues to be a major worry.

In a tournament where margins are often wafer-thin, Rajasthan has repeatedly let crucial moments slip through sloppy catching and untidy work inside the circle.

Sunday was no different.

A series of dropped catches allowed Suryakumar Yadav to settle in and score a fifty, keeping Mumbai Indians alive far longer than it should have been.

Add to that the middle-order’s inability to consistently absorb pressure, and the Royals, who have used 20 players so far this season, still look far from a settled unit despite sealing qualification.

With renewed optimism and the emergence of teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Rajasthan had begun the season in sparkling fashion, remaining unbeaten in the early phase of the tournament. But the campaign slowly unravelled as inconsistency crept into both its batting and fielding.

For a side that unearthed one of the brightest young talents of the season in Sooryavanshi, who has already amassed 583 runs, the campaign should ideally have been a more comfortable one.

Instead, over-dependence on the opening pair of Sooryavanshi and Yashasvi Jaiswal, repeated lapses on the field and skipper Riyan Parag’s occasional indecision in crunch situations have often left the team on the back foot. Playoff qualification may ease the immediate pressure, but it should not bury those uncomfortable questions.

“I think I’ve seen very few players who have been criticised like Riyan has been criticised for about seven years now. Ever since I came to the franchise, there’s always people who like Riyan, but there are a lot of people who didn’t really like him, especially on social media. But that’s the reality of the modern game,” Sangakkara said.

“When we decided to offer Riyan the captaincy, he is the absolute right guy to lead this franchise. I have no doubt in my mind. He will grow. He will mature. He will understand himself a lot more. He will learn to understand his players a lot more. But even today, if you look at the calls he makes as captain, the confidence with which he drives, and drives himself almost on one foot sometimes to come and play, there’s a huge amount of positivity. I think he’s captained exceptionally well,” the former Sri Lanka captain said.

“He has led his team exceptionally well. And when he’s in that dressing room, he’s got the respect of all the players and the staff. That’s all you can ask for. What happens in the next few years, I think is a really interesting relationship that we have to build with the franchise and Riyan, and really help him develop as a captain, as a batter, as a person, and keep supporting him. He’s a very, very good young man,” Sangakkara said, adding with a smile: “Sometimes what you see on the outside is not the (real) Riyan Parag. Riyan is a lovely, soft, gentle, really determined, smart young man. And he’s learned a lot in the last few years. And he’ll continue on that journey. I’m very, very proud of him…”

While the coach, obviously, had a word of praise for the captain, if Rajasthan hopes to reach a third IPL final, it will need greater clarity and conviction over the next week. Parag, still learning the demands of leadership at the highest level, must be quicker and bolder with his tactical calls, particularly through the middle overs when matches tend to drift.

The team management, too, has decisions to make — especially regarding Ravindra Jadeja’s role in the batting order. A seasoned campaigner of his calibre cannot afford to walk in at No. 8 or No. 9 with only a handful of deliveries remaining. If fit and available, Jadeja’s experience and composure need to be utilised far higher up the order, where he can influence the game rather than merely survive its closing moments.

“He has been nursing an injury, and we have had to manage him quite sensitively. So for him to go out and bat for long periods of time, it puts a lot of pressure on him, a lot of stress on him,” Sangakkara said. “So, he gets maybe another two days of rest, and then we can use him even better. The way he batted today was exceptional again. And the all-rounders are so useful…”

Off-colour Jaiswal

For the record, Jaiswal scored 397 runs in 14 outings. But the numbers hardly tell the full story. Too often this season, he failed to convert promising starts into match-defining knocks. Sunday followed a familiar pattern as he squandered a steady start and failed to fully capitalise on the PowerPlay.

While the coaching staff and management have consistently spoken about allowing players the freedom to express themselves without burdening them with pressure, they also need to urgently address the bowling unit’s overreliance on Archer and find solutions for the days when the England pacer does not single-handedly bail the side out.

Questions remain. So does hope — the hope of finally ending a title drought that has stretched ever since that magical triumph in 2008.

Published on May 24, 2026