Other teams fans coping with the “Vaibhav carry” narrative
I genuinely don’t understand this “Vaibhav is single-handedly carrying RR” narrative from other teams (and even some RR fans).
He’s been phenomenal for us, no doubt. But Jofra taking 18 wickets in 13 matches is, in my opinion, just as impactful if not more than scoring 580 runs in 13 matches in a 2026 where bowlers are literally getting trashed. Taking an opener’s wicket in the first over can easily reduce the opposition’s score by 25–30 runs.
This season, RR have won 7 matches and had 6 different MOTM winners. That alone shows this has been a proper team effort.
vs CSK → Burger and the bowlers rolled them for 127. MOTM: Burger.
vs GT → Jurel, Jaiswal and Hetmyer all contributed, while Bishnoi’s MOTM spell (4 wickets) won RR the game.
vs MI → Jaiswal scored 77*(32), while Archer, Burger and Sandeep completely destroyed MI’s batting lineup. MOTM: Jaiswal.
vs RCB → Vaibhav (MOTM) was unreal, but Jurel’s 81 and the bowling effort were equally important. RCB had almost 10 batting options, so restricting them to 200 was still a very good effort from the bowlers.
vs LSG → Vaibhav, Jaiswal and Jurel all failed, yet RR still won because of the lower-order batting and bowlers. MOTM: Jadeja.
vs PBKS → entire batting unit contributed except Jurel, especially Ferreira and Dubey finishing the chase.MOTM : Ferreira
vs LSG →this was the only win that genuinely felt like “Vaibhav carried,” but even there the bowlers did very well in the second half of LSG’s innings. Otherwise they could’ve easily crossed 250.
Even in two close losses, RR nearly won without anything extraordinary from Vaibhav.
vs DC → even after being 12/2, RR still scored 225 because of Riyan’s 90 and Don’s 46, but the bowlers failed to defend it.
vs KKR → the bowlers almost defended a low total. (that catch drop from Burger still hurts)
Vaibhav has absolutely been RR’s breakout star and biggest x-factor this season. But acting like the rest of the team has done nothing seriously disrespects the contributions of Jaiswal, Jurel, Riyan, Burger, and especially Archer.