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. That decline has been steeper in IPL 2025. Seven defeats in nine games, including five in a row, have left them reeling, with a third of the league stage still to go. The manner in which they lost their last three games is even more concerning. 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. After their most recent defeat, seamer Sandeep Sharma stated, "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." "However, we are losing wickets at crucial times. We can't get it to click when we try to accelerate. We are not rushing through the execution of our plans. On a difficult Chinnaswamy surface, the Royals were aiming for a high total of 205, but they were helped along by little dew and Yashasvi Jaiswal's blistering opening stand of 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 through a slow start, failed to finish with a 34-ball 47, continuing a pattern of failing finishes. This season, the Royals have scored the most runs in the PowerPlay and have scored 37 times in the first six overs, more than any other team. However, the middle overs have been their undoing, as they have lost 26 wickets (second most behind KKR) and only a 16 percent boundary rate, 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 are missing crucial catches and wickets just as we need to score more runs. That has been the issue; under pressure, we are crumbling. "Last season, we were nailing those moments. Same players - Riyan, Dhruv, Yashasvi - were delivering. We also had better fielding. This year, we are deficient in that." 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. We didn't show enough intent against the spinners, so I think we're to blame. He stated, "We could have executed our batting a little bit better." 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 today, that was the case."