“Parag, Samson, Jaiswal Have Played Enough Cricket…” – RR Coach Doesn’t Hold Back After Another Last-Over Defeat

RR suffered a narrow one-run defeat to the Knight Riders, marking their eighth loss of IPL 2025 on Sunday.

Vikram Rathour Reflects on RR’s Struggles After Narrow Defeat to KKR

Rajasthan Royals’ batting coach Vikram Rathour wore his disappointment on Sunday after the team’s narrow loss to Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens in IPL 2025. Despite being eliminated from the playoff race, RR came agonizingly close to ruining KKR’s chances, needing only three runs off the last ball. However, Rinku Singh’s run out sealed a 1-run victory for KKR.

This was not the first time RR had found themselves in winning positions only to falter at crucial moments. “If I’m counting right, it’s the fourth game where we got into a position where we should have won, but we were unable to finish off. That’s the kind of season we’ve had so far,” Rathour said, acknowledging the team’s recurring inability to close out games.

While individual performances have been strong, Rathour dismissed the idea that inexperience was to blame. “I won’t say that. Riyan (Parag), Dhruv (Jurel), Nitish (Rana), Sanju (Samson), (Yashasvi) Jaiswal—they’ve played enough cricket now to call them inexperienced.”

Instead, Rathour pointed to injuries as a key factor affecting RR’s performance. “What I would say is that injuries haven’t helped. We’re missing Sanju and definitely missing Sandeep (Sharma) in the team,” he added.

Rathour’s frustration was evident as he reflected on the team’s collective underperformance. “Mostly all the batters have scored runs. They are in good form or batting well in the nets, but it hasn’t happened collectively. Similarly, in bowling, we’ve seen some really good spells individually, but as a group, maybe we haven’t collectively performed,” Rathour said.

Fielding has also been an area of concern. “Maybe the fielding hasn’t helped a great deal. So yeah, a lot of things didn’t go our way this season, and there are a lot of areas to focus on and get better at,” he concluded.

No lack of motivation

Despite Rajasthan Royals’ struggles in IPL 2025, batting coach Vikram Rathour remains confident that motivation will not be a concern for his players in the remaining games of the season. “When you’re playing, I think, the best league in the world, that should be motivation enough. Every game is an opportunity to show your skills, how good you are, and you’re competing against these world-class bowlers. So I think everybody’s motivation should never be an issue, and you’re playing in IPL, whether you’ve qualified or not,” he emphasized.

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