Rajasthan Royals served Punjab Kings with a playful social-media swipe after booking their spot in the IPL 2026 Playoffs on Sunday. In their last league outing, RR faced Mumbai Indians and, with qualification still within reach, Riyan Parag’s side required a win to keep their hopes alive. They responded in a commanding fashion, posting 205/8 in 20 overs after being sent in. Mumbai Indians, in reply, were bowled out for 175/9, giving Rajasthan a 30-run victory and confirming them as the fourth and final team to progress to the postseason. The same result also eliminated Punjab Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders from playoff contention.
Not long after the match, RR turned to X (formerly Twitter) to answer an earlier dig from PBKS. The Royals shared a viral meme clip showing actor Arjun Kapoor being kept out of a house while others walk in, a symbolic nod to Punjab’s exit from the playoff race. The post carried the caption “Sorry bhai, aaj nahi,” echoing a line Punjab had used previously to mock Rajasthan following RR’s defeat to Delhi Capitals on May 1.
The meme exchange has kept rolling throughout the season. Earlier, Rajasthan had reshared Salman Khan’s old viral tweet, “Zinta’s team won kya?”, after beating Punjab, and added their own twist with a “Sorry bhai” caption, continuing the light-hearted back-and-forth between the two franchises.
On the field, captain Riyan Parag expressed satisfaction at the win and qualification, while also stressing that the team must improve for the matches ahead. “Feels good when things go to plan. We’ve won, but a lot of things we need to do better,” Parag said after the game. He added, “We should’ve qualified way earlier. We’re picking slack.”
Parag also voiced frustration with the batting effort, pointing out that despite a few starts, no batter produced a substantial score on Sunday. Rajasthan lost Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi early, leaving them at 119/5 at one stage. Jofra Archer then changed the tempo with a quick 32 off 15 balls, and further cameos from Ravindra Jadeja and Nandre Burger helped RR build momentum to finish on 205/8 in their 20 overs.
Explaining the batting strategy, Parag said, “I wanted the set batter to play longer; we needed runs. We can’t have two batters go at a run a ball. That’s why we sent Jadeja, we wanted a quick 20 from him, which he provided.”
