For a brief moment, Rajasthan Royals seemed to have let the game slip away.
Set a target of 211, they looked to be in control but Rashid Khan and Kagiso Rabada turned the tide with a late flurry. The pair, who hit 200, brought Gujarat Titans back into the contest, needing just 15 off the last 12 balls. The chase tilted, the momentum shifted and the pressure sat firmly on the fielding side.
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It was a familiar sight for a team that struggled to close out close games. Another slipped away. What followed, however, was not a moment of sudden inspiration but a series of calls that gradually tipped the game back in their favor.
CALCULATED THROW OF PARAGU
In the middle of it was Captain Riyan Parag, whose decision-making under immense pressure proved decisive. Parag had originally planned to go with Tushar Deshpande for the penultimate over but changed his mind at the last minute and handed the ball to Jofro Archer instead. Mind you, he had options like Sandeep Sharma, who has accompanied the death for the franchise before, apart from Nandre Burger, who has been in good touch of late.
It was far from an obvious call. Archer was expensive earlier in the evening while Deshpande was arguably the more effective option.
However, Parag chose to trust instinct and intent over caution.
“It was just unbelievable. I think I took a chance and thought, let’s go full and fast. And the way the guys served, he was so excited. The fact that they accomplished what they wanted is crazy,” Parag said after the match.
Nor was the decision made in isolation. There was clarity in the group and, above all, confidence in the input coming from the center.
“I was actually going to change the order, so thanks to Dhruv Jurel for that. He asked me to go with Jofra on the 19th,” Parag revealed.
ARCHER SHIFTS THE MOMENTUM
After serving the ball, Archer’s role was clearly defined. He relied on pace, attacked the body and ensured that there was little space on offer.
The intention was not necessarily to take wickets, but to deny boundaries and keep the equation as steep as possible until the final.
“Whether the 19 was down, it was his responsibility to leave as many as the last pitcher,” Archer explained in a postgame interview.
By the end of the day, what looked like a manageable equation turned into one that could swing either way.
DESHPANDE CLOSES IT
With that clarity, Deshpande had to defend 11 runs in the final over, a scenario that can quickly unravel in this scenario.
However, Deshpande kept it simple. He attacked the stumps, trusted his yorkers and avoided offering width. There was no attempt to overcomplicate things and, more importantly, no deviation from the plan under pressure.
Rashid tried to improvise, Rabada tried to force the pace but neither could find the boundary when it mattered. A poorly timed shot found Archer in the deep. By the time the last delivery was played, the equation had slipped out of Gujarat Titans’ reach and Rajasthan Royals had cruised to a six-run victory that had seemed unlikely a moment ago.
WHY DESHPANDE AT THE END?
As Sanjay Bangar pointed out, the decision itself was never easy given the options available to Parag.
“Tushar Deshpande is someone who has proven to be a good death bowler. He has done that for Chennai Super Kings in the past. He also has great control over the yorker so it would be a tough decision because you have to consider how Sandeep Sharma has done for them and the role Nandre Burger has played in the new Star ball and over the middle.”
“Sandeep had an off night, so the decision of the day came down to whoever was more confident. Tushar Deshpande seemed like the right choice. And when he made sure Jofra played the 19, it gave him enough runs to defend,” he added.
In the end, there wasn’t a single defining moment, but rather a series of small, calculated calls that came together. On a night when the margin for error was minimal, The Rajasthan Royals had just had enough when it mattered most.
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– The end
Issued by:
Amar Panicker
Published on:
05 Apr 2026 07:45 IST
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