'We have got close but we haven't been able to finish the job.'
Head coach Rahul Dravid hopes that the young Indian players in the Rajasthan Royals' ranks will soon get the opportunity to play 'tough international cricket' which in turn will help them return stronger for the IPL next year.
The Royals crashed to their fifth successive defeat when they went down against Punjab Kings by 10 runs in Jaipur on Sunday. They have managed just three wins out of 13 matches to be placed ninth out of 10 teams.
"We have seen some abilities. Even today, the batting that (Yashasvi) Jaiswal did, Vaibhav (Suryavanshi) did, Dhruv Jurel did. There's a lot of Sanju (Samson), Riyan (Parag) today. We have a lot of young, good Indian batsmen. They will be even better in a year," Dravid said in the post match press conference.
Dravid then expanded his thoughts on how the young names in the Royals' ranks can perform better a year down the road.
"Vaibhav will play a lot of cricket like India Under-19. Riyan Parag will also play a lot of cricket. So, I think all these players will play a lot of cricket for India throughout the year -- tough cricket, international cricket.
"So, hopefully when they come back here next year, they will be more experienced. They are already very talented players," he added.
Dravid felt that the Rajasthan bowlers and batters have not been able to apply finishing touches to the job, leading to the team's dismal show this season.
Against Punjab Kings, RR made a smashing start as the openers put on 76 in just 4.5 overs in the chase of 220 but failed to sustain the momentum in the middle overs as they lost the match by 10 runs.
"We have got close but we haven't been able to finish the job. It's been one of those seasons where you always feel with the ball that probably give 15-20 runs extra, and after getting to good positions (with the bat)… with that lower middle-order we just haven't been able to click and get the big shots that we need," said Dravid.
Punjab Kings were reeling at 159/5 in the 16th over before they turned things around in the death overs, smashing 60 runs in the last four overs to post a healthy 219/5 at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium in Jaipur.
"It's been five games now where the margins have been 10 runs, tie game, 1 run, 2 runs, 10 runs again. So that's really one or two hits which you need in that phase which we just haven't been able to do."
Dravid said bowlers also bear equal share of blame for the team's underwhelming show.
"There is no point in just blaming the batsmen. I think with the ball also, to be honest, this wicket I didn't think it was 220. It was about 195-200 wicket and we gave 20 runs extra.
“If we look at the statistics, we haven't been taking wickets or in controlling the runs despite making some good starts. So for the next season, we have to work on that,” he added.
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