Rajasthan Royals (RR) played their last group stage match of the IPL 2023 season on Friday (May 19) and registered a four-wicket victory over Punjab Kings (PBKS) at HPCA Stadium, Dharamsala.

As a result, the Royals finished the league stage with seven wins and as many defeats. They lost their way after winning 4 of their first 5 games and finished with 14 points.

While RR still have a slim chance to reach the playoffs, skipper Sanju Samson is certainly not pleased with his team’s showing this season.

“With the team which we have, it's a bit shocking to see where we stand on the table. If we look back, we have a lot of things to discuss and look at it,” Samson said at the post-match presentation ceremony.

Rajasthan Royals had an opportunity to go past RCB's Net Run Rate as they needed to chase down 188 in 18.3 overs or fewer against PBKS. However, they failed to pull it off as the match went to the final over.

"[On the NRR] At the end of the game Hettie was going well and we felt 18.5 was when we wanted to get it,” Samson said.

The RR captain was effusive in praise of young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, who scored 50 off 36 balls against PBKS and amassed 625 runs at an incredible strike rate of 163.61 in the league stage with 1 hundred and 5 fifties.

“I have been talking about Jasiwal almost every game. He has shown maturity. It feels he has played 100 T20Is,” Samson stated.