‘There’s nothing we can do about it now…’ – Rajasthan Royals coach believes their season is over ahead of game vs GT

Rajasthan Royals (RR) bowling coach Shane Bond believes that the team is already out of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season. On Monday, RR will take on Gujarat Titans at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. With five games left in the season, RR are ninth in the table with just four points. Even if Royals win all their matches they would have to hope other results go their way to make it to the playoffs. 

Former Kiwi pacer Shane Bond while addressing the media on Sunday was quoted by Hindustan Times as saying, “The hardest thing is that, for 35 overs of games we've played really well and in fact have been in control in some games and probably got into positions where we should have won. You have to give credit to the opposition, they were good enough in those tight moments to go over the top of us and win those game.”

In the last game against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), the Royals just needed 18 runs from 12 balls. Josh Hazlewood turned the game with the key wicket of Dhruv Jurel for 47 and Jofra Archer for a golden duck and gave away just one run. RR have fumbled their run chase in three successive games to slide down the table. 

‘Probably out of the tournament’ – Shane Bond ahead of game vs RR

Speaking to the media, Bond also said, “I suppose that's what hurts us. We're two wins and seven losses, and go, jeez, where we could sit on the table, but there's nothing we can do about that now. We're probably out of the tournament in terms of the points table, but that doesn't mean there's not a lot to play for.”

“Obviously, as a team, we want to make sure we finish the season strong and continue playing well, but also for individuals there's a lot to play for, for the next season, wanting to stay with the franchise,” said Shane Bond ahead of the game against the Titans at home on Monday night. Win for the Titans will take them to top of the table and one step away from playoff qualification. 

RR’s bowling coach also added, “For me it's been really disappointing, I think we're all competitive, we want to win, and when you've got a bunch of people who've worked really hard like our guys have, I don't expect them to just turn up and go through the motions, I expect us to turn up every day with the right attitude, bring energy and make life as hard as we possibly can for the opposition that we're playing against. I feel like we've done that for most of the competition. We've lost a lot of close games, we just haven't quite been good enough."