Courtesy: BCCI/IPL/RR
On Saturday, April 19, Rajasthan Royals (RR) lost to Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) by two runs despite being on course to achieve an easy victory at one stage in pursuit of the 181-run target in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 clash at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. This heartbreaking defeat came on the back of a super over loss against Delhi Capitals (DC) away just a few days ago, but despite that RR spin bowling coach Sairaj Bahutule insisted in the post-match press conference that the team isn’t panicking.
Notably, after restricting LSG to 180/5 despite a poor last over from Sandeep Sharma, which went for 27 runs, RR got off to a flying start in the power play stage courtesy openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Suryavanshi, with the latter becoming the youngest debutant in IPL history at just 14 years of age. Jaiswal shared a 85-run stand in 8.4 overs with Suryavanshi, who scored 34 runs in 20 balls with two fours and three sixes after smashing his first ball for a maximum against Shardul Thakur.
Nitish Rana lost his wicket soon after but then Yashasvi Jaiswal had a 62-run partnership with captain Riyan Parag, who was given the role on the night due to Sanju Samson’s side strain. With 25 runs needed in the last three overs with two set batters at the crease, RR looked certain to get past the finishing line, but Avesh Khan had other ideas as he dismissed Jaiswal (74 off 52) and Parag (39 off 26) in the same over before defending nine runs successfully in the last over, to help LSG reach the top four spot in IPL 2025 points table.
There's a lot of calmness with Rahul Dravid being there: Sairaj Bahutule
With just two wins in their first eight matches of the season, RR have it all to do, to have any chance at reaching the IPL 2025 playoffs, and after their recent heartbreaking defeat, Sairaj Bahutule was quoted as saying in the post-match press conference, as per Cricbuzz, “To be honest, we've been playing good cricket, Bahutule claimed following Royals' loss against LSG, in Jaipur, on Saturday. It's just that the result has not gone away. In the dugout, there's a lot of calmness with Rahul (Dravid) being there.”
“Everybody has played enough cricket in that dugout to know that one should not panic and take it as it comes. But unfortunately, losing by two runs this game and the previous game with the super over, yes, it's been hard, but that's the way the game goes,” said the RR spin bowling coach in regards to their last two losses, which have put them in a position to win all their remaining matches in the IPL 2025, apart from needing other results to go their way, to make the playoffs this season.
