Rajasthan Royals Face Match-Fixing Allegations Once Again After Narrow Loss to LSG in IPL 2025

Rajasthan Royals (RR) are going through a tough time in IPL 2025. They recently lost a close match to Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) by just two runs. In that game, Riyan Parag led the team as captain because regular skipper Sanju Samson missed out due to a rib injury.

However, this defeat has now taken a new turn. A serious match-fixing allegation has been made against RR.

RCA Member Says Match Was Fixed

Jaideep Bihani, a BJP MLA from Sri Ganganagar and the convenor of the Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) ad hoc committee, claimed that the match between RR and LSG was fixed. He said that even a child could tell that the match was not played fairly.

Bihani also criticised RR for not involving RCA in their IPL activities. He blamed the franchise for working only with the Zila Parishad and ignoring the RCA. According to him, the BCCI had earlier sent a letter only to the RCA, not to the Zila Parishad. He questioned RR’s excuse that they had no MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with the RCA for the stadium.

“If there’s no MoU, so what? Aren’t you still paying the Zila Parishad to host the matches?” he said during an interview with News18 Rajasthan.

What Happened in the Match?

RR were chasing 199 runs and were in a strong position at 156/2. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Riyan Parag were batting well. But then, Avesh Khan took two quick wickets — Jaiswal and Parag — and the momentum shifted.

RR needed just 9 runs in the last over but failed to chase it. Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer, and Shubham Dubey couldn’t finish the match.

RR’s Struggles Continue

With this loss, RR are now placed eighth on the points table. They have won only two games and lost six out of their first eight matches. Their next match is against Royal Challengers Bengaluru on April 24, followed by a home game against Gujarat Titans on April 28.

The match-fixing allegations have now added more trouble for the struggling Rajasthan side.