Updated April 30th 2025, 20:16 IST
IPL 2025: Rajasthan Royals (RR) will square off against Mumbai Indians (MI) in the 50th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur, on Thursday, May 1st.
Rajasthan Royals had a poor start to the 18th season of the cash-rich tournament. The Royals have clinched three wins and conceded seven defeats in the ongoing IPL 2025. In their previous five matches, the Rajasthan Royals conceded four defeats and one win.
In their previous match, the Royals clinched a promising eight-wicket win over the Rajasthan Royals. It was Vaibhav Suryavanshi's 101-run knock from 38 balls that helped boost the Royals' confidence.
Ahead of the Royals' match against the Mumbai Indians, Rajasthan head coach Rahul Dravid set the tone for their remaining four matches of the cash-rich tournament. Rahul Dravid said that the IPL is a competitive tournament where the bottom teams can beat the teams at the top. He added that they are focused on winning their next match and taking one game at a time.
“It’s a tight tournament. Teams at the bottom can beat teams at the top. The margins are small. We’re aware that with six points we’re low on the table, but we’re taking it one game at a time. The focus is on winning the next match—not worrying about the table. Even though we’ve kept one eye on the long-term by retaining young Indian players, we didn’t enter the season thinking only about the future," Dravid said at the Star Sports Press Room.
Dravid further added that they could have won the title this year, but the result didn't go their way.
"We believe we could win this year. The results haven’t always gone our way, but we’re not using our long-term thinking as an excuse. We’ve been competitive, just small moments have cost us. The players we backed are part of our vision for the future, but also good enough to win now,” he added.
In the ongoing season, the Rajasthan Royals' only three wins came against the Chennai Super Kings, Punjab Kings, and Gujarat Titans.
The Royals need to win their next four matches by big margins; only then they will have a fair chance to qualify for the IPL 2025 Playoffs. The Rajasthan-based franchise also needs to rely on other teams' results.
Published April 30th 2025, 20:16 IST