IPL 2025: How can Rajasthan Royals qualify for playoffs after their 7th defeat? Scenario explained

Rajasthan Royals face a tough road to the playoffs after a string of losses in IPL 2025. With a negative net run rate and several matches remaining, their chances hinge on winning all their upcoming games and significantly improving their NRR.

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Rajasthan Royals' playoff chances

Rajasthan Royals have continued to endure a disappointing IPL 2025 campaign after their defeat to Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Thursday, April 24.

Rajasthan Royals suffered their seventh defeat of the season with a narrow 11-run loss to Royal Challengers Bengaluru. With a target of 206. RR failed to chase it down as the visitors were restricted to 194/9 in 20 overs despite strong performances by Yashasvi Jaiswal (49) and Dhruv Jurel (47), and valuable innings from Riyan Parag (22) and Nitish Rana (28). Josh Hazlewood, who delivered a match-winning spell of 4/33 for RCB, turned the momentum of the match by taking two wickets of Dhruv Jurel and Jofra Archer.

Rajasthan Royals’ bowling unit displayed below-par performance as all six bowlers conceded 30 and above runs, allowing Royal Challengers Bengaluru post a solid total of 205/5 and set up a challenging target for the visitors to chase.

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RR’s shambolic season

Rajasthan Royals are not having an ideal campaign in the ongoing IPL season. With two wins and seven losses, RR are currently at the 8th spot on the points table with four points and have a net run rate of -0.625. RR were led by two captains in the IPL 2025, Sanju Samson and Riyan Parag. Parag led Royals in 5 matches in the absence of Samson’s injury, while Samson captained the side in just three matches before he was ruled out of the last two matches. Despite Rahul Dravid returning to Rajasthan Royals as the head coach for the IPL 2025, the inaugural IPL season winners’ fate did not change.

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Can Royals qualify for playoffs?

Rajasthan Royals have an uphill task in hand to qualify for the playoffs. Royals, who qualified for the final in 2022 and playoffs in 2024, are in a situation where they have to win the remaining five matches in the league in order to have realistic chances of making the playoffs. Winning 5 matches would take Royals to 14 points, but it cannot be that 14 points will suffice to secure their playoff berth, those involving teams in the mid-table battle. At the same time, Rajasthan Royals need to significantly improve their net run rate (NRR), which currently stands -0.625. Royals are in the battle with Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad who are still in contention for the playoffs despite being the points table.

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Will Sanju Samson return for remaining matches?

Sanju Samson was ruled out of the last two matches against Lucknow Super Giants and Royal Challengers Bengaluru due to side strain. Samson did not travel to Bengaluru as he stayed back in Jaipur for recovery and rehabilitation with the help of the franchise's medical team. However, RR did not specify the return date of Samson as his fitness and rehabilitation has been monitored on a day-to-day basis. Sanju Samson played solely as a batter in the first three matches of the tournament as he did not get clearance from Centre of Excellence (CoE) to keep the wickets due to finger injury. With RR skipper being ruled out of the last two matches, Vaibhav Suryavanshi made his IPL debut against Lucknow Super Giants, wherein he became the youngest player to play the tournament at the age of 14.

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Way forward for Rajasthan Royals

In order to keep their playoff hopes, Rajasthan Royals need to have course correction ahead of the remaining matches in the league. RR need to fix their middle-order woes, which have been inconsistent in the last few matches. Inconsistent performances by the middle-order batters have often put pressure on the top-order to deliver, especially while chasing challenging targets. Another issue Royals need to look into is their bowling as they have been leaking runs in the middle and death overs, which has consistently undone the efforts of their batters and cost them crucial matches in tight situations.