Donovan Ferreira and Shubham Dubey of Rajasthan Royals (ANI Photo) Donovan Ferreira has admitted that his years on the sidelines in the IPL have been the main driver behind his performances for Rajasthan Royals this season. Ahead of the RR IPL 2026 decider against Gujarat Titans in Jaipur, the South African batsman reflected on finally getting regular opportunities after limited game time in the first three seasons in the tournament. Ferreira has emerged as one of the most dangerous finishers for Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2026. The 27-year-old has scored 229 runs in 10 matches at an average of 45.80 and an impressive strike rate of 177.52. His impact was particularly significant in the death overs where he consistently accelerated the innings with fearless hitting. Eleven of his 16 sixes this season have come between overs 17 and 20, highlighting his effectiveness as a finisher. When asked about his success late in the innings, Ferreira responded lightly. “I really don’t know. It’s got to be just the middle of my bat. Or they’re just sending me better bats. No, I think it’s been designed like that, nice and hard. And now it leaves me nice and refreshed, like a fully charged car battery after a full break. So yeah, I’m ready to play today and hopefully we’ll have more success today,” Ferreira said. The South African explained that finishing games is a role he has played throughout his career and one he genuinely enjoys despite the pressure that comes with it. “I mean, that’s kind of my role on the team and I have time for that. So I think it’s exciting for me to be in that role. I’ve always been in that role my whole career. So it’s just nice when it doesn’t work out, you look kind of like I could say, it doesn’t look great. But hopefully, it can work out for me, that’s how it goes.” Ferreira also revealed that the lack of opportunities during his earlier IPL campaigns continues to motivate him this season. “I think there was a lot of motivation for me, especially in the IPL, it’s my fourth season now and I didn’t really get a lot of opportunities. I carried a lot of drink in the first three seasons,” he said. “So it’s been quite a big motivation for me, especially in this tournament. And then going into the next tournaments, I’m just trying to find motivation for that particular tournament because it’s quite important for me to keep it focused, nice and focused for the tournament. And when you go to the next one, you switch to that tournament and you get some new motivation again,” the Proteas all-rounder added.
