Follow UsIt was another heartbreaking loss for Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, as they went down by one run against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on May 4 (Sunday). They have been agonisingly close on quite a few occasions, be it their Super Over loss against Delhi Capitals (DC), two-run loss to Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and their 11-run loss to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).
They had a chance to win all those games, but their batters failed to finish the game off. RR batting coach Vikram Rathour rues those missed opportunities.
"If I am counting right, it's the fourth game in which we got into a position where we should have won it but were unable to finish it. That's the kind of season which we have had," Rathour said at the post-match press conference.
Riyan Parag was the pick of the batters, scoring 95 off 45 with eight sixes and six fours punctuating his innings. Rathour believes that the skipper's dismissal in the 18th over was the turning point of the match. "Riyan Parag getting out [was the turning point]. If he was in there, I am sure he would have finished it off," he said.
While the batters have scored runs, Rathour believes that the collective failure with both bat and ball has let the team down, resulting in their ouster from the tournament. "Mostly, all the batters have scored runs. They are in good form, they are batting well in the nets. But it hasn't been happening collectively," Rathour said.
"Similarly, in bowling as well, we have seen some really good spells individually, but as a group, maybe we haven't clicked. Maybe the fielding hasn't helped a great deal. That is one thing that we have missed. So yeah, a lot of things that didn't go our way this season and a lot of areas to focus on and get better at.
"There is no issue with the quality. We have really good quality in our batting. We were not able to close the game and finish it. I am sure that in the next couple of seasons, we will be a really good batting group and a really good team to compete against."
Rathour also says there is no regret about not retaining Jos Buttler ahead of someone like Shimron Hetmyer. "I won't say it was a mistake," Rathour said.
"Obviously, you could have retained only six. The management is pretty happy with the six that we have retained. Hetty is supposed to be that finisher, and unfortunately, he has had that kind of a season.
"He is a superb player. He has done that in the past, he's done well in international cricket, league cricket or franchise cricket. This year, he hasn't been able to finish the games. That was his role basically. People are allowed to have those kinds of seasons.
"I have worked enough in cricket to know that really good players also go through lean phases. Unfortunately, Hetty had a poor season this year, which will happen once in a while. If he had a good season - and we are sure that he is going to improve - I don't think we have any issue with the finishers then."
RR will hope to end the campaign on a high with wins in their last two games - against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on May 12 and Punjab Kings (PBKS) on May 16.