3 reasons why Rajasthan Royals got knocked out of Tata IPL 2023

Mumbai Indians (MI) defeated the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by eight wickets in a one-sided match of the Tata IPL 2023 on Sunday, May 21. With the win, MI climbed to fourth place in the IPL 2023 points table, while SRH finished the season last. The result also saw Rajasthan Royals (RR) eliminated from the playoffs as they needed both Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Mumbai to lose their final game to finish in the top four.

Batting first, Hyderabad posted a below-par total of 200 runs on the board. While a score of 200 is a good one on most days, the placid Wankhede wicket and the phenomenal start that SRH had, meant that MI would be happy to chase anything below 220-225.

For SRH, openers Vivrant Singh (69 runs off 47 balls) and Mayank Agarwal (83 runs off 46 balls) struck aggressive half-centuries to post a 140-run opening stand. When the first wicket fell, they were running away with the game with the score reading 140/1 in 13.5 overs.

For Mumbai, the pick of the bowlers was Akash Madhwal (4 - 0 - 37 - 4) who put out an excellent exhibition of fast bowling.

In reply, Mumbai made light work of the chase as they reached their target with two overs to spare and eight wickets in hand. The MI batting effort was headlined by a magnificent century from Cameron Green (100* from 47 balls). He struck eight boundaries and eight maximums in a knock that came at a strike rate of 212.77.

In another positive development, captain Rohit Sharma (56 runs off 37 balls) struck form through a solid half-century. The in-form Suryakumar Yadav (25* runs off 16 balls) paired with Green to finish the game for the hosts.

With a positive result against SRH, Mumbai just needed Bangalore to lose their match against Gujarat Titans (GT) later the same day. As destiny had it, RCB suffered a narrow loss against GT, dealing MI's spot in fourth and their place in the playoffs.

The Royals, however, knew their destiny early in the day as MI's victory rendered the RCB game inconsequential.

It has been a disappointing IPL 2023 campaign for RR. While they had an excellent first half, a sudden dip in form in the latter stages saw them fail to make it to the playoffs. On that note, let us take a look at 3 reasons why RR got knocked out of IPL 2023:

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#1 Overreliance on Yashasvi Jaiswal

Throughout the season, Rajasthan Royals relied heavily on Yashasvi Jaiswal to do most of the scoring from them. In 14 matches, he scored 625 runs at an average of 48.08 and a strike rate of 163.61.

Their middle order, consisting of the likes of Sanju Samson, Devdutt Padikkal, and Jos Butler, failed to consistently deliver. While Samson and Butler did put in reasonable performances for the side, they fell short of matching their own standards. Samson scored 362 runs in 14 matches at an average of 30.17 while Butler scored 392 runs at an average of 28 in as many matches.

Most of the Butler's runs came in the first half of the tournament and he was dismissed for a duck five times this season, including three consecutive times in the last three matches of the season.

Padikkal, who became a serious Team India slot contender with her performances for Bangalore, has failed to perform for RR. Batting away from his preferred opening slot, he scored 262 runs in 11 innings for the franchise this year.

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#2 Poor performances by RR pacers

Barring Trent Boult, most of Rajasthan Royals' pacers had a poor IPL 2023 campaign. Boult was impressive as always, picking up 13 wickets in just 10 matches at a decent economy rate of 8.21, considering that he bowled in the Powerplay.

Apart from him, the RR pace battery struggled to provide the goods for the franchise. Sandeep Sharma, who made a good start to the season, ended up picking just 10 wickets in 12 matches at an economy rate of 8.60.

The world-class Jason Holder had a dismal season as well, taking just four wickets in eight matches at a poor economy rate of 9.96. Bowlers like KM Asif and Navdeep Saini also had expensive economy rates of 9.85 and 12.33 respectively.

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#3 Choking in important matches

Rajasthan Royals choked in several important matches in the tournament. The biggest example of this was in Match 52 against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

SRH needed 41 runs from two overs to win, with two new batters at the crease. The equation then came down to RR needing to defend five runs off the last ball. Sandeep Sharma then dismissed Abdul Samad but his celebrations were cut short as he had overstepped and bowled a no-ball, giving away a free-hit. Samad then struck a maximum to win the match for SRH.

Against Mumbai Indians in Match 42 of the season, RR needed to defend 57 runs in just four overs. With the well-set, Suryakumar Yadav dismissed in the final over after a swashbuckling half-century, most people would have backed RR to close the game.

However, with Jason Holder and Sandeep Sharma failing to contain the batters, MI won the match with three balls.

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Those are the three key reasons why Rajasthan Royals got knocked out of the IPL 2023 playoffs. Can you think of any other reasons? Let us know in the comments section below.