It’s official. Riyan Parag on Friday was named as the Rajasthan Royals captain for the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) season.
The head coach, Kumar Sangakkara, and the rest of the management had plenty of options, namely Ravindra Jadeja, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Sam Curran, but Parag got the nod ahead of the trio. The 24-year-old had also led the franchise last season when Sanju Samson was not available due to injury.
Ahead of the IPL 2026 mini auction, the inaugural champions traded Samson to the Chennai Super Kings, bringing Jadeja and Curran on board. This led to speculation that Jadeja might be given the top leadership role, considering he also took a pay cut to join the Royals. However, it’s not the case, as Parag received the vote of confidence from the stakeholders who matter.
Parag led the Royals in eight matches in IPL 2025, yet the franchise won only two. The batting all-rounder averaged 38.57 in those matches, and his best performance was against the three-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders, where he scored 95 at Eden Gardens.
Ever since making his IPL debut in 2019, Parag has played all the seasons of the tournament for the Royals. However, he has started in the playing XI in all the games for the Royals in only the last two editions. His best season came in 2024, when he returned with 573 runs at an average of 52.09 and a strike rate of 149.21. Overall, he has played 84 matches for RR, scoring 1566 runs and taking 7 wickets.
“Rajasthan Royals has been my home in the IPL since day one. This franchise has backed me, developed me, and pushed me to grow every season. To now lead this team is incredibly special, and it’s a responsibility I fully embrace. I’m excited to work alongside our coaches and leadership group to play fearless, smart cricket and make our fans proud,” Parag said in an official statement issued by the Royals.
Earlier, Samson left the Royals after 11 seasons with the franchise. He had informed the management about his desire to leave midway through the last season. In IPL 2025, reports also emerged about a possible rift between Samson and the then-head coach Rahul Dravid. However, the latter had denied all these reports at the time.
Last year, Dravid had also moved on, stepping down as the head coach and the management gave the role to former Sri Lanka captain, Sangakkara.
Rajasthan Royals squad for IPL 2026: Riyan Parag (captain), Shubham Dubey, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Lhuan-Dre Pretorius, Shimron Hetmyer, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Jofra Archer, Tushar Deshpande, Kwena Maphaka, Nandre Burger, Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran, Donovan Ferreira, Ravi Bishnoi, Ravi Singh, Sushant Mishra, Vignesh Puthur, Yash Raj Punja, Aman Rao, Brijesh Sharma, Kuldeep Sen, Adam Milne.