Rajasthan Royals head coach Rahul Dravid hit back at critics of Dhruv Jurel after the team slumped to their sixth loss while chasing in the Indian Premier League 2025. The Royals have now chased in seven matches this season, winning just one — against Gujarat Titans on April 28.

Sunday was another missed opportunity, as Sanju Samson’s side fell short while chasing 220 runs, despite a flying start. The loss once again put the spotlight on Rajasthan’s misfiring middle order, which has struggled to close out games from winning positions throughout the season.

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Dhruv Jurel, in particular, came under fire for his performance, but Dravid firmly defended the Rs 14 crore retention, stating that the young wicketkeeper-batter had done an excellent job under pressure all season.

“In every single match that he has come out in, he’s been chasing 13-14 runs per over — that is not easy,” said Dravid at the post-match press conference. “He played really well, even though we lost a bunch of wickets in the middle overs. He brought us close to the target. It’s not like he’s walked in needing 7 an over and failed. It’s always 12-13, sometimes even more. I think Jurel has done well for us at No. 5. It’s a very difficult position to bat in.”

Dravid also voiced hope for the future of Rajasthan’s young Indian core, which has drawn criticism this season. He noted that many of the players are set to gain valuable international experience in the coming year, and expected them to return stronger in IPL 2026.

“We’ve seen the talent — today again, the batting from Jaiswal, Vaibhav, Jurel, even Sanju and Riyan. We have a strong group of young Indian batsmen. They’ll only be better in a year,” Dravid said.

Expanding on that point, he added:
“Vaibhav (Suryavanshi) will play a lot of cricket, like the India U19 setup. Riyan Parag too. These guys will be playing tough cricket, international cricket through the year. So hopefully when they return next season, they’ll be more experienced. They’re already very talented.”

Dravid Rues Lack of Finishing Touch

Rajasthan fell short against Punjab Kings on Sunday, despite a blazing start. Openers Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Yashasvi Jaiswal powered the team to a 50-run stand in just three overs, but the Royals failed to capitalize and were restricted to 209 in their chase of 220.

“We’ve got close but haven’t been able to finish the job,” Dravid admitted. “It’s been one of those seasons where you feel we give 15-20 runs too many with the ball, and with the bat, after getting into good positions, we haven’t been able to finish with the big shots we needed from the lower middle order.”

Punjab were 159 for five in the 16th over but hammered 60 runs in the final four overs to reach 219/5 at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium — a period Dravid believed swung the game.

“It’s been five games now — 10 runs, tie, 1 run, 2 runs, 10 runs again. These are one or two hits in that final phase that we just haven’t managed.”

He also pointed out that bowlers should share the responsibility for the defeats.

“There’s no point only blaming the batsmen. With the ball too, this wasn’t a 220 pitch. It was more of a 195-200 surface, and we gave 20 extra,” Dravid said. “If we look at the stats, we’ve not taken enough wickets or controlled the runs despite good starts. That’s something we have to work on for next season.”