Rajasthan Royals head coach Kumar Sangakkara has said that the new floodlights in Jaipur were making life difficult for the players. During RR’s clash against Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 25, some uncharacteristic dropped catches caused controversy.
Discussions and debates had been sparked over whether or not the stadium was responsible. Since then, the Rajasthan Royals faced the Delhi Capitals on 1 May at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium, but it did not look as egregious. Now, RR will take on the Gujarat Titans in their home base on May 9.
Before the IPL 2026 season, the new LED floodlights had been installed at the ‘SMS’. The lights have offered more brightness and better visibility in general, but the glare might have induced a few butter fingers.
We’ve been trying to see what the right adjustment is- Kumar Sangakkara
Kumar Sangakkara spoke to the media in Jaipur and talked about how the stadium authorities had done a better job with the lights. He also said that the fielders were taking their own time to adjust to the new lights.
“I think they have done a great job with redoing the floodlights. They’re LED lights, and then you know, they’re quite different to what we are used to in other grounds. They are much brighter and give a larger amount of visibility. So we’ve been trying to see what the right adjustment is so that the fielders are comfortable and they don’t lose the ball in the glare of the lights,” he said.
“We’ve spoken to the ground authorities” – Kumar Sangakkara
Kumar Sangakkara also said that the Rajasthan Royals had spoken to the relevant authroities about this problem. He said that they had obliged and tried to make some adjustments since then.
“So we’ve spoken to the ground authrorities and they have tried to lower or extend or change the direction of the lights. And in the second game [vs Delhi Capitals on May 1], I think it was fine. It’s never easy when the lights are in a glare, but I think they have done a great job with the ability to adjust that as well, so it’s great for modern technology to have such good lighting,” he added.
Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2026
After finishing ninth last year, the Rajasthan Royals re-instated Kumar Sangakkara as head coach this year, but that hasn’t changed their “typical Rajasthan fortunes”.
Before the season, RR made one of the biggest trades in IPL history. Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran were traded in for Chennai Super Kings, and Sanju Samson – their full-time skipper at the time – headed to Chennai.
Curran got ruled out of the season with an injury, but Jadeja has been steady so far. Over the years, RR have built a reputation for being inconsistent, and that does not seem to have changed this year.
After winning their first four matches in a row, RR have lost four of their last six matches, to end up with 6 wins from 10 matches. RR are now fourth on the points table, but have the lowest net run rate among the teams currently in the top four.
Following a gap of eight days since their last match, RR will take on the Gujarat Titans at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium in Jaipur.
Also Read: IPL’s best opening pair crowned; Rohit-QDK, Kohli-Faf and Head-Abhishek ignored in shocking call
