IPL 2026: Starc's over changed the result, RR were at least 20 runs short, admits Rathour

NEW DELHI: Rajasthan Royals lead assistant coach Vikram Rathour admitted that Mitchell Starc's devastating 15th over proved to be the turning point of their five-wicket defeat to Delhi Capitals, admitting that the visitors were at least 20 runs short of a competitive total and that poor decisions from the batters cost them the match.

Rathour's candid assessment came after RR, well-placed at 160/2 at the start of the 15th over, lost four wickets in a heap to Starc, including three in an over and eventually posted only 193/8, with DC chasing it down with four balls to spare.

"I completely agree. We were at least 20 runs short, if not more. I thought we were 160 in 14 overs and lost two wickets. From there, we should have got 220. Again losing three wickets in one over doesn't help. So we could have been a bit smarter with our decisions we took in that over.

“So those are the learnings and in every game, you will make mistakes and the idea is to learn from those mistakes and I hope the next time we are in a similar situation, we get a better result. Again, that over definitely changed the result for us.

"Obviously he's a world class bowler. He's a world class bowler, but the kind of options we took in that over, were poor. We could have done differently and given ourselves a little more time to get through that over and take the game a little deeper,” said Rathour in the post-match press conference.

RR had come back to tournament action after another longish break and the result is a big setback to their hopes of entering the playoffs, as they find themselves deeper in the all-familiar second half wobble. Apart from RR batting order imploding in the last six overs and their misfields leaving head coach and director of cricket Kumar Sangakkara angry in the dugout, some of the decision making from RR was perplexing.

The decision to draft in batting allrounder Dasun Shanaka as Impact Player raised eyebrows, as it meant they couldn’t bring in a frontline bowler - Ravi Bishnoi or Sushant Mishra named in substitutes – in the second innings. The absence of veteran all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja further magnified the risk, considering their refurbished bowling line-up came on the back of being expensive in the last few games.

After Shanaka made only ten with the bat, RR pressed him into service as the fifth bowler despite not bowling in his previous two outings. To his credit, Shanaka delivered three tidy overs and even took out DC’s top‑scorer KL Rahul. But his limited use left RR short of flexibility in death overs bowling options.