Reflecting on the defeat, Parag said that while the team executed well in patches, lapses in the field hurt them badly. “Skill-wise, we executed pretty nicely. But we dropped catches. Quality players like Abhishek can't be dropped. That will be a sight to behold. It is one part of the game. We have to be clinical, and fielding plays a major part,” he said after the match.

After being asked to bat first, Rajasthan Royals posted a strong 228/6, riding on a sensational 103 off 37 balls by young opener Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and a quickfire 51 from Dhruv Jurel. Late contributions from Donovan Ferreira and Shimron Hetmyer pushed the total past the 220-mark, putting RR in a commanding position at the innings break.

However, SRH chased down the target comfortably with nine balls to spare, thanks to a blistering 74 off 31 balls from Ishan Kishan and a rapid 57 from Abhishek Sharma, who shared a match-defining 132-run partnership.

Parag also felt that RR fell slightly short with the bat despite the big total. “We left like 10-15 on the table, to be honest. They bowled well in the 18th and 19th over, executed the yorkers. We would have liked 10-15 more runs,” he admitted.

Speaking about his bowling decisions, Parag explained the reasoning behind turning to part-time options in the middle overs. “They were two lefties, and I thought Don and I had a better chance of getting a wicket. The wicket was not spin-friendly. It didn’t really go to plan, but I would do the same thing next time as well,” he said.

Parag also felt that RR fell slightly short with the bat despite the big total. “We left like 10-15 on the table, to be honest. They bowled well in the 18th and 19th over, executed the yorkers. We would have liked 10-15 more runs,” he admitted.

Meanwhile, after this defeat, RR have moved down to the fourth position in the points table with 10 points in 8 matches. They will next face the Punjab Kings (PBKS) on April 28.