Rajasthan Royals’ skipper, Riyan Parag, cited “a lot of small errors” following the team’s decisive loss to Mumbai Indians (MI), ending their playoff hopes in the 2025 IPL.
In a match where RR needed a win to remain contenders, they came up short across the board. Parag reflected on the team’s performance, pointing out both their successes and missteps. “I think we’ve done a lot of things right, we’ve done a lot of things wrong,” Parag said post-match. “We want to focus on the things we’ve done right. A lot of mistakes, a lot of small errors, I think we’ve got to focus on how to not make them again, focus on the good as well.”
Despite the setback, Parag remains hopeful for the upcoming games. “We’ve had a few close matches, so hopefully the next three games when we get opportunities like we have in the first 10-11 games of this season, hopefully we can do it better.”
RR had conceded 217 for 2 while bowling first, yet retained a glimmer of hope with promising opening stands in previous games between Yashasvi Jaiswal and young Vaibhav Suryavanshi, who has made headlines at just 14. However, their plans went awry when Deepak Chahar dismissed Suryavanshi early for a duck, and Trent Boult alongside Jasprit Bumrah dominated, leaving RR at 62 for 5 following the powerplay. Parag accepted responsibility along with the middle order’s shortcomings but maintained a sense of optimism. “We’ve been getting good starts, but it’s up to the middle order – myself, Dhruv [Jurel] – for us to step up in the middle overs when we lose wickets in the powerplay, [we] couldn’t just do it. But we still back ourselves if another situation comes next game, I think we should be up for it.”
Both fans and analysts, including cricket experts Aakash Chopra and Abhinav Mukund, are dissecting what went amiss for the Royals this season and how these “small errors” will shape their improvements going forward.
