“He clearly must have some problem”

Former England captain Michael Vaughan questioned the reason behind Rajasthan Royals (RR) all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja’s absence in the crucial IPL 2026 clash against Delhi Capitals (DC) on May 17. RR skipper Riyan Parag mentioned that the star all-rounder was sitting out the game as part of his workload management.

However, Vaughan believes Jadeja’s history suggests the issue may lie elsewhere, which may explain the latter’s absence.

Talking about the same after the match on Cricbuzz, Vaughan said (4:35):

“I am curious about what’s wrong with Jadeja. From what I know, he doesn’t seem to be a guy who’ll pull out of a game for a niggle. Workload management, particularly when they’ve had time off, feels strange. He clearly must have some problem. They would surely want him out there.”

He added:

“Jadeja with the bat would have been perfect in that situation to prevent a collapse. He wouldn’t have tried to launch Mitchell Starc and get out. He would have at least got them to 210. He is that kind of player. And his left-arm spin, if used well, would have been valuable as he’s very smart and clever. And he would have saved five runs in the field.”

RR dearly missed Jadeja’s presence with bat and ball, as they folded for 193/8 in their 20 overs from a dominant 161/2, allowing DC to chase the score down in 19.2 overs with five wickets in hand.

“You don’t bowl a part-timer against two batters that can strike it big” – Michael Vaughan criticizes Riyan Parag’s captaincy

Michael Vaughan slammed RR captain Riyan Parag for his move to introduce part-time off-spinner Donovan Ferreira into the attack in the 18th over of DC’s run-chase. With DC requiring a daunting 35 off 18 balls, Ferreira conceded 16 runs, including two maximums, in his lone over.

“I have to question the tactical side of bowling Donovan Ferreira. They just got Stubbs and thought because there are two left-handers, we will put a part-time off-spinner? That wasn’t a great move, and it didn’t need to happen. It was a typical modern era matchup call. You don’t bowl a part-timer against two batters that can strike it big,” said Vaughan (via the aforementioned source).

He added:

“As soon as he came on, I felt like it was a strange move. There was no need of that gamble at that moment. They were tactically miles off, and it’s why they are in this position on the table. They have a squad that should comfortably be in the top 4. Bowling Donovan at that time was tactically poor, apart from Bishnoi getting misused.”

The loss dented RR’s playoff hopes as they sit at sixth on the points table with 12 points from as many games.