Three games in Guwahati, all Ws. Three games so far in Jaipur, all Ls. Home isn't what it used to be for Rajasthan Royals (RR) on the evidence at IPL 2026, when they seemed to fit right in when away from the northwest to the northeast of the country, in their second home. Deep Dasgupta feels it's just a matter of "not playing good cricket" of late, while Mitchell McClenaghan, a quick in his playing days, put it down to "their main weapon at the top", Jofra Archer, not getting any help from the pitches in Jaipur.
"I think they haven't really played good cricket there [in Jaipur], and I think that's the only reason. I can't think of anything else," Dasgupta said on ESPNcricinfo TimeOut. "It's a high-scoring venue. And if you look at their batting even last year, that was very top-heavy. Again, the middle order was a bit of an issue [and it is] this year as well. Dhruv Jurel has had an up-and-down kind of a season. So yeah, it's just that you've got to play good cricket, and unfortunately, they haven't at home."
Archer, meanwhile, was breathing fire after settling down. From April 7 to May 1, he went eight games where he picked up at least a wicket. In the first game in Jaipur, too, he got two. But since then, he has gone 1 for 46 and 0 for 46.
"There's not that lift and bounce [on offer] that there was at their previous home ground where Jofra was ripping people's heads off," McClenaghan said. "I think Jofra was getting some lateral movement as well, previous to this. It's not conducive for genuine swing or lateral movement."
Archer's first over after RR asked Gujarat Titans (GT) to bat on Saturday evening was a puzzling one. He had to send down 11 balls to complete it. The third ball took five deliveries to complete, with a no-ball, then five wides down the leg side, then two more wides down the leg side, before a legal delivery. It cost RR 18 runs.
"Oh, I got tired just watching it [that over]. Some endurance to get through that," McClenaghan joked. "It wasn't what they needed, obviously. No, 18 off the first over. Only half of that was off the bat. He just didn't have the radar right. Sometimes that happens to players when they're coming back from a break [RR were playing after an eight-day gap]. They lose their rhythm. But yeah, it just wasn't on the mark. It didn't look crisp."
Speaking at the press conference after the game, RR bowling coach Shane Bond looked frustrated. That was understandable because RR have now gone four games in a row where they have conceded well over 200 runs, and won just one of them.
"We just haven't played well enough in conditions that we know. We've been outplayed by our opposition," Bond said. "I look at bowlers, they just have to be better, right? You've got to think a bit outside the box. There's two things: decision-making and execution. I think tonight, you would have probably noticed that execution just wasn't consistent enough for long enough. And I think if you look across the board in the IPL, that's just been the case.
Mitchell McClenaghan on Jofra Archer's wayward and expensive spell against Gujarat Titans
"The batsmen, they're coming out, they're playing ultra-aggressive, and putting pressure on bowlers. So as a bowler, you've got to ask, well, 'what can I do differently?' [They] have got to spend more time with the analysts knowing exactly where each batsman's going to... the zones they're going to score at. I may have to bowl off a shorter run and a longer run. I've got to be able to come around the wicket and bowl on both sides.
"So, when you see the bowlers are doing the same thing, game after game after game after game, getting the same result, then my question would be: you've got to be doing something different and developing your game. You look at batsmen now, they're playing the uppercut, they're reversing, they're scooping. They've developed a range of shots. So a bowler has to develop their range of skills as well. I think it's a great opportunity for any bowler to go: 'if I can do that, then I can elevate myself into, you know, a lot of money and be a superstar'. I just don't think you've consistently seen that across the board.
"It's certainly not easy for the bowlers, but you can either fear it, fear what's going on out there, or see it as an opportunity to get better and maybe put your name up in lights."
What the sequence of losses has done is pushed RR, who were near the top early on in the season, down at No. 5 with three league-stage matches to go. Qualification for the playoffs is not out of the question yet, but the wins have dried up, and that's a concern if RR don't want it to end like 2025.