Mumbai: Rajasthan Royals have faced heavy criticism and serious allegations of match-fixing following their recent defeat against Lucknow Super Giants. The Royals needed 9 runs in the last over to win and could only manage 6, and accusations of foul play ensue. Rajasthan lost from a winning position for the second match running.
Rajasthan SA team under scrutiny as ad-hoc committee convenor Jaydeep Bihani questions performance, raises ‘match-fixing’ suspicions. Bihani blamed the management for having poor handling of the situation, including head coach Rahul Dravid and captain Sanju Samson. He said, “The government had appointed a committee to run the affairs of RCA, but then why was the RCA not managing the IPL affairs?”
Bihani expressed his views on his team’s last-over defeat to Lucknow while talking to News18 Rajasthan. The committee, which is primarily responsible for conducting the tournaments, however, had little say in IPL matters, which is now under the district council, he said. He further highlighted discrepancies, asking the RCA to have an MoU (memorandum of understanding) with Sawai Mansingh Stadium before paying the district council to use the venue.
Riyan Parag captained the match for Rajasthan in place of injured Sanju Samson; Vaibhav Suryawanshi also made his debut aged 14. Vaibhav and Yashasvi Jaiswal opened with an 85-run first wicket partnership in their chase of 181 runs for Rajasthan. In the 9th over, Vaibhav fell for 34 runs from only 20 balls.
Rajasthan were looking comfortable, needing 25 runs from 18 balls with Yashasvi on 74 and Riyan Parag on 38. Yashasvi Ki Wicket lagane k baad, Parag bhi aani k 2 ball baad out hua aur Rajasthan ko aur unhe yeh final over mein jeetne ke liye sirf 2 run ki zaroorat thi, par Avesh Khan ne apna 18th over zabardast daala. While they needed 9 runs to chase down, they could only manage to score 7 runs and lost the match by 2 runs.
Rajasthan had not become the first team in a while to fumble a chase badly. They faced a near-identical scenario on April 16 against Delhi Capitals, requiring 9 runs in the final over and ending up with just 8, which resulted in a Super Over. In the Super Over, Rajasthan managed to score 11 runs, but Delhi chased it down in just 4 balls to seal the victory.
Such close losses and the florid criticism have only piled up scrutiny upon Rajasthan Royals and their show in this IPL season. The allegations of match-fixing have been constant, and the team, along with its leaders, is under severe scrutiny.