Rajasthan Royals suffered a second straight defeat after a bright start to the campaign, becoming the first side to be outplayed by Kolkata Knight Riders on a Sunday afternoon at Eden Gardens. RR\u2019s bowlers did their part, pushing the chase of 156 right down to the final over, but late-order batting from Rinku Singh and Anukul Roy froze the contest. As a result, the points stayed with the home team.<\/p>\n
Rajasthan began with clear intent, holding their ground through the middle overs even as Kolkata\u2019s innings kept threatening to run away. At one stage, KKR were reduced to 81\/6, a position that suggested RR\u2019s control might turn into a complete turnaround.<\/p>\n
Ravindra Jadeja produced a sharp spell to keep the pressure on. After completing his third over, he had taken 2 wickets while conceding only 8 runs, figures that made his inclusion late in the innings a tempting option.<\/p>\n
Despite Jadeja\u2019s impact, RR captain Riyan Parag chose not to bring him back at the death. The explanation given in the match context was that there were two left-handers at the crease, and Parag instead went with his own bowling choice and then introduced Brijesh Sharma for two overs in the closing phase.<\/p>\n
That choice did not sit well with Ravichandran Ashwin, Jadeja\u2019s long-time former teammate and spin partner. Ashwin questioned the logic of under-bowling Jadeja despite the returns he had already delivered in the match.<\/p>\n
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Ashwin highlighted the quality of the option RR had at their disposal, pointing out that Jadeja had been highly effective in terms of both wickets and run control, even downplaying the economy he was able to maintain.<\/p>\n
Ashwin\u2019s central criticism was that Parag took responsibility for himself instead of leaning on the bowler who had already shown he could trouble Rinku Singh. He referenced the fact that the batter was dropped off Jadeja\u2019s bowling, implying that Jadeja\u2019s presence was still creating pressure.<\/p>\n
Ashwin framed the captain\u2019s thinking as one where Jadeja was viewed as unable to bother the left-handers, even though the evidence from the spell suggested otherwise.<\/p>\n
Ashwin suggested the decision might have consequences beyond that single game. In his view, allowing Jadeja to bowl and swing the match back toward RR would have been a fitting highlight in the spinner\u2019s return to the franchise and would have reinforced RR\u2019s core group. Instead, it was back to figuring things out again.<\/p>\n
Turning to the broader picture, Ashwin pointed out that RR had won four of their five earlier matches. He then argued that if Jadeja had taken the wicket of Rinku Singh, the spinner would have been man of the match\u2014and that would have reframed RR\u2019s standing as a stronger, more consistent side.<\/p>\n
In Ashwin\u2019s words, a man-of-the-match performance from Jadeja would have made Rajasthan look like a settled unit capable of operating at the top end of the table.<\/p>\n
Rajasthan Royals suffered a second straight defeat after a bright start to the campaign, becoming the first side to be outplayed by Kolkata Knight Riders…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":3946,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_title":"KKR vs RR at Eden Gardens: Royals lose again in IPL","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"KKR vs RR at Eden Gardens: Riyan Parag\u2019s struggles and late heroics from KKR seal another IPL win, handing Rajasthan a second straight defeat.","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3947","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ipl"],"yoast_head":"\n