The Rajasthan Royals (RR) have landed in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons following their stunning defeat to Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the IPL 2025 season. What began as a routine league fixture at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur quickly snowballed into a major controversy, with serious match-fixing allegations now looming over the franchise.
Jaideep Bihani, the convener of the Rajasthan Cricket Association’s (RCA) ad hoc committee, has openly questioned the integrity of RR’s performance, raising suspicions about potential foul play. “The Royals had full control of the match but collapsed in an inexplicable manner,” Bihani said, suggesting that the sudden shift in momentum deserved more scrutiny.
But the controversy goes beyond just the match result.
Bihani also took aim at the administrative handling of IPL games in Jaipur. He criticized the Rajasthan Sports Council for sidelining the RCA ad hoc committee, which had been overseeing cricket operations in the state. “The ad hoc committee, appointed by the state government, has successfully conducted events from the grassroots to the national level,” he noted. “But when IPL arrived, the Sports Council conveniently took over.”
According to Bihani, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) initially routed communications to the RCA, but RR and the local Sports Council allegedly bypassed the committee’s authority. He pointed to the lack of a formal Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the stadium as a weak justification for excluding the committee. “If there’s no MOU, so what? They’re still paying the Sports Council per match,” Bihani added.
So far, neither the Rajasthan Royals nor the Sports Council has issued an official statement responding to Bihani’s allegations. The BCCI, too, remains silent.
As this story continues to develop, it raises tough questions about transparency, governance, and ethics in one of the world’s most high-profile cricket leagues. With the IPL under the microscope, all eyes are now on how the concerned authorities address these serious accusations.
Will this spark an internal probe—or be swept under the rug like past controversies? Only time will tell.
