Amateur! You say this about the Rajasthan Royals’ Super Over strategy in one word. If you ask this of an RR fan, the response would change in a more obnoxious way. That’s how much the emotions were invested when their side met the Delhi Capitals in match 32 of the IPL 2025.
RR had to win this. They needed a silver lining, as their fate in the season was getting harder on them after every match they played. After 7 battles being done, the warriors of the Pink City could only thrive twice, and only that many teams are there below them on the table. They are just holding on to a thin rope of NRR, which they have managed to get better than the other two teams at the bottom, SRH and CSK.
Things were good at the start of the second innings when the Royals came to chase Delhi’s 180-run target. Skipper Samson sang beautifully with the bat, and with Yashasvi Jaiswal partnering him well, the scoreboard grew fatter in the powerplay. They managed to cross 50 in the first 5 overs, and that happened.
I would say the sixth over determined RR’s loss as their kapitan had to retire hurt. Sanju was in good form and was at 31 off 19 deliveries when destiny pulled a string on him. RR were still flying high in the match as Yashasvi Jaiswal and Nitish Rana played fantastically to score 51 runs each.
But when it reached the final over, and RR were seemingly almost ashore, Mitchell Starc stepped in to stop them level, to again dismantle them in the super over that followed.
In the super over, RR sent Shimron Hetmyer and Riyan Parag to the crease. That was a surprise for the commentators and DC fans and he DC fans. For RR fans, it was rather a shock. A feeling of fall before the battle has even started. This is where RR got it all wrong.
Riyan Parag could only score 8 of 11 deliveries during the regular time. Hetmyer, on he other hand, struggled to connect well to the ball and also struggled to hit Starc’s majestic yorkers in he final over. After all, had he chased down the 9 runs at the end, RR wouldn’t have played the super over at the end.
There were two better options: Yashasvi Jaiswal, who has a terrific record against the Australian fast bowler, and Nitish Rana, who smashed DC bowlers earlier. While Rana wasn’t even included in the 3 batters RR chose for the super over, Jaiswal had to come one down, only to get run out without facing a single ball.
DC captain Axar Patel’s words describe this pretty well. In the post-match presser, Axar said that he was surprised that Yashasvi Jaiswal didn’t open the super over. He was even wowed in disbelief when Hetmeyer was given a chance over Jaswal.
“Hetmyer wasn’t able to connect in the match either,” he added.
Cheteswar Pujara and Ian Bishop at the commentary box felt the same.
“I think Nitish should have been there in those three,” said Pujara. “I would want Jaiswal to start because of the way he bats against Mitchell Starc.”
Ian Bishop had a similar opinion so as the thousands of RR fans. But the minds of RR management were sloppy, or did the decisions have other motivations?
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