'Unthinking Cricket': Gavaskar Slams Rajasthan Royals' Poor Approach

Champions of the inaugural edition of the IPL, Rajasthan Royals, are struggling this season. They are currently placed 8th in the points table with just 2 wins in 9 matches. In the absence of their captain, Sanju Samson, who is suffering from a back injury, Riyan Parag is leading the side as the stand-in captain. However, the team has lost five consecutive matches.

In their recent match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru at their home ground, Rajasthan looked in control while chasing a target of 206. They needed only 17 runs from the last two overs with Dhruv Jurel and Shubham Dubey at the crease. But the batters failed to finish the game and managed to score only 6 runs in the final two overs.

Gavaskar Criticizes ‘Unthinking Cricket’ by Royals

Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar has expressed his disappointment with the Rajasthan Royals’ playing style and the lack of intent under head coach Rahul Dravid.

“I’m actually talking about the earlier matches where I wasn’t at the ground. I just saw them. So, you’re not always able to get the feeling of what’s really happening. But here, I was at the ground, and you could actually see the kind of cricket that was being played. And with someone like Rahul Dravid as the coach, it was quite baffling—it was unthinking cricket,” Gavaskar said on Star Sports.

“Dravid was always so precise in his thinking, and I would’ve thought that kind of approach would’ve seeped into some of the Rajasthan batters,” he remarked.

“Where is the thought process there? You can’t expect inexperienced players to always get it right, but still… it’s just a different kind of cricket,” Gavaskar added.

Rajasthan has now lost their third game in the final over. First, they failed to chase 9 runs against DC and eventually lost in the Super Over. Then, they lost to LSG where they again couldn’t score 9 runs in the final over. Now, against RCB, a similar story unfolded.

Rajasthan’s Road to Playoffs Looks Tough

The Royals’ qualification chances are now slim. Even if they win all of their remaining 5 matches, they will finish with just 14 points. This means they will have to rely on the top-half teams in the points table to struggle in order to keep their playoff hopes alive.

Rajasthan's remaining matches are against GT and MI, both at home. They will then travel to Kolkata and Chennai to face KKR and CSK, respectively, before playing their final league match at home against PBKS.

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