On Thursday evening, the Rajasthan Royals became the second team in the Indian Premier League 2025 to get officially knocked out from the season, following their 8th defeat in 11 matches.
As they faced the Mumbai Indians at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in their do-or-die fixture, they recorded their second-worst bowling performance of the season, conceding 217/2 in 20 overs.
While chasing the score, the hosts ended up capitulating and losing 6 wickets inside the powerplay— eventually getting bundled over for 117 runs.
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Following their sub-par display in both departments, former India and Chennai Super Kings opener, Abhinav Mukund, had some criticism for the RR management for their planning ahead of the season.
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Speaking to ESPNcricinfo, the former cricketer pointed out how the Royals should have invested in better bowling options rather than spending more money than required on the batting line-up, naming Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Nitish Rana.
Mukund also spoke on how they have downgraded their bowling attack from the previous seasons, where they had the likes of Avesh Khan and Yuzvendra Chahal,
"Their one good bowler, the one they have spent most money on, is Archer. Unfortunately, their Indian pick did not go well. Tushar Deshpande, who was benched for this particular game, was bought for a lot of money. Then again, you had three plus one something that you invested in two more Indian batters, Nitish Rana and Vaibhav Suryavanshi," he said.
“How much ever I think, I would have still not bought Vaibhav Suryavanshi for INR 1.1 crore, and Nitish Rana for INR 3 crore (INR 4.2 crore). I would have invested that money in a couple of good bowlers. Look at their bowling last year, forget the big names, you still got Avesh Khan, Chahal, Ashwin, Trent Boult, and Sandeep Sharma, these are five bankable proper bowlers,” he added.
How has the Rajasthan Royals' bowling performed in IPL 2025?
After playing 11 matches in the season, the RR bowling unit has conceded at an overall economy of 9.94 runs per over. They also conceded 286 runs against the Sunrisers Hyderabad in their tournament opener in Uppal.
| Matches | Overs | Maidens | Wickets | Avg/SR | Economy | Best Figures | 4w/5w |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | 215 | 1 | 48 | 44.54/26.8 | 9.94 | 4/35 | 1/- |
Their average and strike rate per wicket taken are the worst among all 10 teams in the tournament. The next worst average is 35.09 of the Lucknow Super Giants, and the strike rate is 21.8 of the Delhi Capitals.
Only SRH has conceded at a higher economy rate than the RR in this season, i.e., 10.09 runs per over.
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