Rajasthan Royals made Indian Premier League history on Saturday, April 19, after they handed a debut to Vaibhav Suryavanshi against the Lucknow Super Giants.
The superstar in the making from Bihar is all of 14 and he became the youngest debutant in the history of the league.
While the youngster introduced himself to the world with a first-ball six of Shardul Thakur, and another maximum of Avesh Khan, RR slumped to their sixth defeat of the campaign as they sit 8th in the table.
While promoting Suryavanshi to the first team gave RR the opportunity to unearth yet another young talent, their season is currently in danger of fizzling out at the halfway mark.
Just like the Chennai Super Kings, RR will have to win all of their remaining 6 matches to even have a chance of qualifying for the playoffs.
However, it looks increasingly likely the Rajasthan side will endure yet another lacklustre campaign as their 17-year search for their second IPL title is destined to a fruitless continuance.
IPL is not charity, says Rayudu
Speaking to ESPNCricinfo as part of his media duties, former CSK batsman Ambati Rayudu slammed RR’s ‘youth-first’ policy. He said the policy has not borne any results and questioned the need to continue promoting youngsters in the squad.
“I’ve always had this question in my mind when it comes to RR – they’ve invested so much in youngsters over the years. What have they gotten out of it? It’s been 17 years since they’ve won an IPL, and they always showcase this as if it’s their strength. It is some great charity that they’re doing for the game, but it is not. You’re here to compete,” he said on ESPNCricinfo’s Timeout.
“You’re here to win the IPL, and there are ways teams have adopted to win the IPL, and you don’t follow any of those. You have your own path, and you justify it year after year.
“And you want people to come on board and appreciate you for the good team that you are by giving youngsters all over the world a good opportunity in the IPL,” he further added.
RR’s IPL 2025 campaign
Only two teams have had a worse campaign than the Rajasthan Royals, and that is based on only the net run rate.
RR is one of three teams alongside Sunrisers Hyderabad (9th) and CSK (10th) to register only 4 wins in the season so far, although SRH have played one game less.
They have a tough game up next, a trip to high flying Royal Challengers Bengaluru on April 24, and a defeat at the M Chinnaswamy stadium all but puts an end to RR’s IPL 2025.
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