RR vs LSG, IPL 2025: Dravid rubbishes rumours of rift with Samson, addresses concerns of death bowling

RR vs LSG, IPL 2025: Dravid rubbishes rumours of rift with Samson, addresses concerns of death bowling

Rajasthan Royals head coach Rahul Dravid rubbished rumours of a rift in the team and insisted that he was on the same page with captain Sanju Samson.

Following its defeat to Delhi Capitals on April 16, multiple reports claimed things were not well in the Royals camp. However, terming those reports as baseless, Dravid said, “Sanju is an integral part of all the decision-making. I have a good rapport with him. He is involved in each and every discussion and decision that we make…”

It has been a dismal Indian Premier League (IPL) season for the Royals, who are placed eighth in the points table, with just two wins from seven games. While Dravid remained hopeful of the team turning things around and moving into the playoffs, he also agreed that death bowling has been an area of concern.

“Obviously, when you lose games and things don’t go right, you face the criticism, and we are happy to face the criticism of not performing well or not doing well. That is something we can think about, but we cannot do anything about such baseless stuff (reports),” he said.

“The spirit in the team has been really good. I have been really impressed with the way the guys have worked so hard. They were hurting.

“One of the things people don’t see is how much the players hurt themselves and how bad they feel. They have been feeling very bad, especially after the last game. Everyone realised that we made a few small mistakes and we should have won that game,” Dravid added.

A few decisions by the Royals raised eyebrows during their game against Delhi Capitals, and Dravid agreed that it being a young team, players will learn from their mistakes.

“We have been a bit disappointing this season. There is no doubt about it. When you lose five games out of seven, it is important to accept the fact that we probably haven’t played to our potential.

But then a lot of decisions can always be looked at from outside and termed as perplexing, but there is a lot of thought that goes into some of these decisions,” Dravid said.

In the Super Over, the Royals preferred Riyan Parag and Shimron Hetmyer to start the proceedings, whereas Sandeep Sharma was chosen to defend the low total.

“Like with a lot of other teams, a lot of these decisions are made by people who are pretty much experts in the field and who spend a lot of time in the field. Sandeep is someone whom we trust.

“He has been bowling some fantastic overs for us, he has bowled all the difficult overs for us in this tournament and we completely back him and support him,” Dravid said, adding, “We felt he was the right bowler for us on that wicket in those conditions with the skills that he has…”

The Royals will face Lucknow Super Giants in a must-win game at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium on Saturday.