'With someone like Rahul Dravid as the coach, it was quite baffling' - Sunil Gavaskar slams Rajasthan Royals for playing 'unthinking' cricket

Sunil Gavaskar questioned Rajasthan Royals' (RR) game awareness after they failed to close yet another run-chase on Thursday, April 24. Needing just 18 runs off the last two overs with five wickets in hand against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, the inaugural champions eventually fell short by 11 runs.

While Josh Hazlewood bowled a phenomenal penultimate over, conceding just one run and bagging two wickets, the Rajasthan batters did not show the zeal and confidence to cross the line. Chasing a 206-run target, the Riyan Parag-led side was restricted to 194/9.

Gavaskar was surprised to see the Royals' batters crumbling under pressure, even after having the calm and composed Rahul Dravid, who is known for his comprehensive strategies, as their head coach.

“With Rajasthan Royals, I’m actually talking about the earlier matches where I wasn’t at the ground, I just saw them. So, you're not always able to get the feeling of what’s really happening. But here, I was at the ground, and you could actually see the kind of cricket that was being played. And with someone like Rahul Dravid as the coach, it was quite baffling, it was unthinking cricket," Gavaskar said while speaking to Star Sports.

"Where is the thought process there? You can’t expect inexperienced players to always get it right, but still... It’s just a different kind of cricket. Dravid was always so precise in his thinking, and I would’ve thought that kind of approach would’ve seeped into some of the Rajasthan batters,” he added.

Dravid guided India to the T20 World Cup title in June 2024 in what was his last assignment as the head coach of the Men in Blue. After ending his stint with the Indian team, he went on to reunite with the Royals. However, his first season back at the franchise hasn't been memorable as the Royals are all but out of the race for the playoffs. They only have two wins from nine games, having suffered their ninth defeat of the season on Thursday.