IPL 2025: Rajasthan Royals break silence on match-fixing allegations after RCA official calls for probe

Rajasthan Royals break silence on match-fixing allegations after RCA official calls for probe (AFP Photo)

In their last IPL 2025 match the Rajasthan Royals lost to the Lucknow Super Giants by two runs on April 19 in Jaipur. Vaibhav Suryavanshi, 14, made his IPL debut in the match and became the youngest player in the history of the league. An injury kept Sanju Samson, the regular captain of RR, out of the starting lineup, and it is unlikely that he will feature in their next match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

Amidst all of this, RR have been embroiled in a new dispute. There have been allegations of match-fixing against the franchise. RR are currently coached by Rahul Dravid and with four points from eight games — two victories and six losses — they are ranked eighth in the IPL 2025 points standings.

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The Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) ad hoc committee convenor, Jaideep Bihani, slammed RR in an interview with News18 Rajasthan, igniting a match-fixing row. Bihani, also an MLA from Sri Ganganagar, brought up a number of issues pertaining to the IPL. He questioned RR's loss on home ground despite the match titled in their favour. The franchise were also accused from preventing the RCA from participating in the ongoing IPL 2025 season's management by Bihani.

“The ad hoc committee has been appointed by the state government in Rajasthan. It has extended for a fifth time. We make sure all competitions take place without any issues. But then just as IPL came, the Zila Parishad (district council) took control of it. For IPL, the BCCI had first sent a letter to RCA only, not Zila Parishad. The excuse given by them and RR that we don’t have an MOU from Sawai Mansingh Stadium. If MOU is not there, so what? Aren’t you paying Zila Parishad for every match?”

?RCA - BCCI - #RajasthanRoyals #IPL #LSGVsRR #BCCI #RajasthanWithNews18 pic.twitter.com/gMc65VxXMA
News18 Rajasthan (@News18Rajasthan) April 21, 2025

With Shimron Hetmyer at the non-striker's end and Dhruv Jurel on strike, RR needed nine runs in the last over of the 181-run chase. When RR needed a six in three balls, Avesh Khan removed Hetmyer in the third delivery and RR could only manage 178/5 in response.

Rajasthan Royals address allegations

As reported by IANS, RR management have formally complained to the Chief Minister, Sports Minister, and Sports Secretary, calling for strict action against Bihani. Deep Roy, a senior official with the team, categorically dismissed Bihani's statements as "false, baseless, and without any evidence".

"We reject all allegations made by the convener of the ad hoc committee. Such public statements are not only misleading but have caused serious damage to the reputation and credibility of Rajasthan Royals, Royal Multi Sport Private Limited (RMPL), the Rajasthan Sports Council, and the BCCI. They also tarnish the integrity of cricket," Roy was quoted as saying in the report.