IPL 2025: RR coach Rahul Dravid admits death bowling requires improvement

Rajasthan Royals head coach Rahul Dravid admitted on Friday that death bowling has emerged as a major concern for the team in the ongoing IPL season Despite recent setbacks he expressed confidence in his bowlersrsquo ability to execute their plans more effectively in the upcoming matchesIn their last two outings against Gujarat Titans and Delhi Capitals RR conceded more than 70 runs in the final five oversldquoWe suffered a little bit with our death bowling We conceded 77 in the last five in the last game The game earlier we conceded 72rdquo Dravid said speaking on the eve of RRrsquos clash with the Lucknow Super Giants ldquoI think that is another area for us that we need to get slightly better with working with slightly more in execution I think our plans have been pretty good It is just more around the execution of some of those skillsrdquoWith the Royals currently on a threematch losing streak Dravid emphasised that tighter bowling in the death overs could play a pivotal role in reversing their fortunesldquoEven if say for example a 57ndash60 sort of thing is acceptable in the last five overs it has become almost a norm now We seem to go for 72ndash77 runsrdquo he explained ldquoIt has been those twothree extra boundaries which I think we need to work on and we need to get better at But it is more an execution issue I think the quality is thererdquoSome decisions during the season such as opting for Sandeep Sharma over Jofra Archer in the Super Overagainst Delhi Capitals or sending Riyan Parag and Shimron Hetmyer up the order raised eyebrows among fans and analysts However Dravid stood by those choices accepting full responsibility for themldquoThe decisions are being made by me and with Sanju Samson being an integral part of that and consultation with our other coaches and our analyst teamrdquo he said ldquoNo one claims that every decision that even experts make works out and is correct But I respect the fact and I am very confident of the team that I have around me that is supporting me and Sanju in making these decisionsrdquoThe absence of key players such as Jos Buttler Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal has forced the Royals to adapt to new combinations particularly in their top order and spin attack Dravid however remained positive about the teams current setup ldquoSee itrsquos not like that If you see our opening partnership they have given us quite good performances Yashasvi and Sanju are playing well Even in the last game they gave us an explosive start Unfortunately Sanju had an injury and he had to retire hurt I wonrsquot say it was the turning point because we had confidence in the other batters But definitely they gave a great partnershipWith PTI inputsatOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params