Here's why Rajasthan Royals faltered in IPL 2025
What's the story
The Rajasthan Royals (RR) have been on a disappointing downturn in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season, ending up with just three wins from 11 matches.
This performance has now seen them bow out of the playoff race for this year.
The Men in Pink faltered in multiple areas as they also struggled with injuries to key players.
Here we present the reasons behind their torrid run this season.
#1
Retention strategy: A misstep for RR
One of the major reasons for RR's early exit is their shady retention strategy.
They were the only franchise to use the maximum quota of six retentions, along with KKR.
In a shocking move, they released their star performers like Jos Buttler and Yuzvendra Chahal.
At the same time, the likes of Dhruv Jurel (₹14 crore) and Shimron Hetmyer (₹11 crore) were retained at prices much higher than what they might have fetched at the mega-auction.
#2
Underwhelming performance from overseas bowlers
The Royals went all-in on their overseas bowling unit, signing Jofra Archer, Maheesh Theekshana, Wanindu Hasaranga, Fazalhaq Farooqi, and Kwena Maphaka.
But only Archer has fared decently while the likes of Theekshana and Hasaranga have faltered.
This problem was evident in their season opener when they leaked a mind-boggling 286 runs.
Indian bowlers Tushar Deshpande and Sandeep Sharma haven't been impressive either.
In fact, none of the RR bowlers who took at least five wickets had a sub-nine economy rate.
#3
Inconsistent performances from key players
The Royals had high hopes from Riyan Parag and Sanju Samson going into IPL 2025.
While Samson has been in and out due to injuries, Parag has been guilty of not being able to finish the games despite scoring runs constantly.
Meanwhile, Yashasvi Jaiswal has also clobbered runs regularly, but the failure of the middle and lower order has let RR down.
#4
Lack of firepower in middle and lower order
While RR's top order has had decent returns, the likes of Jurel and Hetmyer have failed to ace the finisher's role.
The ouster of the experienced Nitish Rana didn't help the Royals either.
Notably, they failed to chase down 25 runs from 18 balls in a game against LSG despite having eight wickets in hand.
As per ESPNcricnfo, RR's run rate in the last five overs (9.83) is the worst this season.