Following successive defeats at the start of the campaign, Rajasthan Royals picked up their first win in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season on Sunday after beating Chennai Super Kings by six runs at the ACA Stadium in Guwahati.
After powering the Royals to 182/9 with a game-changing 81 off 36 balls, Nitish Rana, who was named Player of the Match, hailed the team’s strong dressing room environment for keeping spirits high despite early setbacks in IPL 2025.
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Rana emphasised that previous defeats hadn’t dampened the squad’s morale, highlighting the resilience and unity within the camp.
“It all starts with the coaches because of the atmosphere Sanju (Samson) and Rahul (Dravid) have created in the dressing room,” Nitish observed. “It’s about not getting too high with wins and not going too low with losses.
“We maintain a certain level in the dressing room and that was evident in the first two matches too. There wasn’t much panic.”
The left-handed batter hit a 21-ball half-century and became the first player to score a fifty inside the powerplay in IPL 2025. It was his 19th fifty in the IPL and first since joining Rajasthan Royals.
Rana also praised stand-in captain Riyan Parag’s leadership qualities after the victory.
“I think when we speak of captaincy it is pretty result-oriented. It’s all about getting results. If the results are in your favour, everyone says the captain is great, but I don’t believe that. T20 is about winning small battles,” he said.
“How you win those battles—like which bowlers or batsmen you team up with—is important. That defines a player. A player like Riyan who is a very calm captain plays a huge role, as does the dressing room environment,” Rana added.
Having opened their account on the IPL 2025 points table, Rajasthan Royals will be looking to register back-to-back wins when they face Punjab Kings in their next match at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium on Saturday.
