RR vs KKR, IPL 2025: Rajasthan forced to bring Shubham Dubey as Impact Player? How it Hampers their strategy?

In the ongoing IPL 2025 match between Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at Barsapara Cricket Stadium, RR faced a significant setback early in their innings.

The team lost five wickets for just 82 runs, prompting them to bring in Shubham Dubey as their Impact Player to stabilize the innings and boost their total.

RR vs KKR: Shubham Dubey comes on as Impact Player for RR

Shubham Dubey, known for his aggressive batting style, had previously demonstrated his capabilities in domestic T20 competitions, where he amassed runs at an impressive average and striking rate. His inclusion aimed to provide the necessary firepower to RR's faltering middle order. Even Shimron Hetmyer was pushed back to accommodate Dubey at no. 7.

How it may impact RR's Bowling?

However, this strategic move has its drawbacks. By utilizing Dubey as the Impact Player, RR have sacrificed an additional bowling option, leaving them with only five bowlers to defend their eventual total. This limitation could potentially hinder their ability to contain KKR's robust batting lineup.

Dubey can bowl right-arm offbreak but RR would have ideally chosen for someone like Kumar Kartikeya as Impact Player had they not brought on Dubey as Impact Player.

The decision to prioritize batting depth over bowling flexibility underscores the challenges teams face under the Impact Player rule. While bolstering the batting lineup was imperative given the early collapse, the reduced bowling arsenal might expose RR to risks during KKR's chase.

RR batting coach Vikram Rathour was asked about the pitch and he said that the deck has a slow nature which makes batting tricky. Rathour also confirmed that the RR think tank have assessed a score of around 160 can be a challenging total as that may put them back in the match. At the moment, the Royals are 109 for 6 at the end of 15 overs.