Rajasthan Royals’ captain Sanju Samson faced a fine of Rs 24 lakh after his team struggled with their over-rate in their IPL 2025 match against Gujarat Titans last Wednesday. It was a tough day for the Royals; they were clearly outplayed and ended up losing the match by 58 runs. This fine was imposed because of breaking the IPL’s rules about over-rates, and it was the second time this season that Rajasthan had this issue. Just prior to this, Riyan Parag, who was standing in as captain during a match against Chennai Super Kings, was fined Rs 12 lakh for the same problem.
According to a statement from IPL, other members of the Playing XI, along with the Impact Player, will face fines of either Rs 6 lakh or 25% of their match fees, whichever amount is lower. After the game, Samson admitted they let the game slip away due to mistakes during crucial moments that led to that significant defeat against GT at the Narendra Modi Stadium. With a target of 218 runs to chase, RR fell short, being bowled out for 159 in just 19.2 overs, as Gujarat’s bowlers dismissed them swiftly.
In a post-match interview, Samson acknowledged that they gave away too many runs while bowling. He pointed out, We lost about 15-20 runs extra while bowling. When we needed to gain some momentum, we kept losing wickets. Shimron Hetmyer was hitting boundaries, but I lost my wicket, and that changed everything for us. Samson contributed a solid 41 runs off 28 balls, with four fours and two sixes, and he and Riyan Parag had a brief partnership of 48 runs, which gave fans a glimmer of hope before the batting collapsed due to Gujarat’s disciplined bowling.
Samson praised Jofra Archer for his strong start with the ball, as he managed to take Shubman’s wicket early on. He noted that while they had a game plan, it didn’t quite go as intended, saying, We had a plan, but they executed something different. We need to take a closer look at that moving forward. The Royals have generally performed well when batting first, but there are concerns about their ability to chase down large totals when the pressure’s on. Samson acknowledged this ongoing discussion, saying, When you lose, you start questioning your strategies. Should we have chased differently? We want to be a team that can win whether we bat first or chase.
Now, with this defeat weighing on them, the Royals face an important time of reflection as they aim to regroup and find their stride again in the IPL. They’ll need to work on their weaknesses if they want to come back stronger in the upcoming matches