Rajasthan Royals (RR) head coach Rahul Dravid didn’t mince words after his side slumped to another defeat in IPL 2025 — this time a 10-run loss to Punjab Kings (PBKS). The former India coach, known for his measured tone, was visibly frustrated as he laid into his team’s bowling unit for consistently underwhelming performances.
The Royals continued to struggle with chasing in IPL 2025, failing to chase down a total for the tenth time. Despite strong starts, they often collapse, including yesterday’s match against Punjab Kings. RR’s finishers, Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer, and Shubham Dubey, consistently fail to seal wins.
Rahul Dravid criticizes RR’s bowling
Recent losses include failing to chase 9 runs in the final over against Delhi Capitals and Lucknow Super Giants, and losing by 1 run to Kolkata Knight Riders. While one can criticise RR batters here, the bowlers are equally at fault as they have consistently leaked extra runs. Dravid holds the sentiment as well, with him openly criticising his bowlers for not being able to curb the run flow, let alone taking wickets regularly.
“There’s no point just blaming the batsmen. To be honest, this wicket I didn’t think it was a 220 wicket… It was about 195-200 and we gave 20 runs extra also,” Dravid said post-match. He added, “If we look at the statistics of the entire season, we haven’t been able to do well in bowling, neither in taking wickets nor in controlling the runs. We are chasing in nine out of 10 matches, and every time the target is 200-210-220. Even then, our openers are giving us a good start, but we aren’t able to finish the run chase. So we have to work on these things next season, on the bowling, even in the fielding, where we are missing catches.“
It’s hard to argue with him. Rajasthan Royals have arguably fielded the worst bowling unit in IPL 2025. As of May 19, they rank last in every major bowling metric:
Rajasthan Royals’ awful bowling at IPL 2025
| Metric | Rank | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Wickets | 10th | 60 |
| Average | 10th | 43.10 |
| Strike Rate | 10th | 25.50 |
| Economy | 10th | 10.14 |
In a season where power-hitting and high scores are common, teams with raw or unreliable bowling attacks are often left behind. RR now find themselves in that bracket. With Jofra Archer now ruled out of the tournament, their attack look toothless. They’ve relied heavily on an untested Indian core: uncapped Akash Madhwal, the struggling Fazalhaq Farooqi, South Africa’s rookie Kwena Maphaka, and the erratic Tushar Deshpande. None have consistently delivered.
Dravid was also candid about the team’s shortcomings in finishing games. “You can lose one or two close matches, but you can’t lose five close matches and expect to do well in this tournament,” he said, pointing to Rajasthan’s inability to close out games in both chases and defenses.
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