Rajasthan Royals skipper Riyan Parag practises ahead of the side’s home game against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. | Photo Credit: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR

Rajasthan Royals captain Riyan Parag might be going through one of his leanest spells as a batter in the Indian Premier League. The 24-year-old has struggled so far in IPL 2026, managing just 81 runs from seven innings.

Royals’ coach Kumar Sangakkara, though, isn’t losing sleep over Parag’s batting form. 

“I think he’s batting really well,” said Sangakkara on the eve of the Royals’ match against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Jaipur on Saturday. 

“When you’re batting well, sometimes you don’t always score. I would have been concerned if he wasn’t hitting the ball well. I think he’s hitting it really well. He just needs to stitch together a few more runs so that he sets himself a good platform to attack in the end,” said Sangakkara. 

The former Sri Lankan skipper also explained the rationale behind Parag’s elevation as the Royals’ skipper. 

“More than anyone else’s influence, why we chose Riyan as captain is that his learning curve has been steep. He has learned a lot from others, but more importantly, from himself. 

READ: IPL 2026, RR vs SRH: Royals hope not to repeat mistakes from away leg even as Cummins returns to lead Sunrisers

“I’ve never seen a young player under so much pressure from the start of his career in RR. Riyan was, a lot of the time, front and centre in a lot of our social media. He was always put out there.

“Because he was an exciting young cricketer and had this aura about him. A pretty good-looking guy as well. But that also brings with it a lot of pressure. And sometimes it’s unfair to have such a young guy be under that pressure. I think he has learned a lot from those experiences,” added Sangakkara. 

The Royals coach added that Parag will continue to have the team’s backing as it expects him to grow into the role. 

“As a player, as a batter, the franchise backs him 100 per cent. And what’s really exciting for me is to see how he has just embraced the captaincy and the leadership. And you can see even in the last game how good a captain he was. So, I think he will learn more and more about pressure and he will get better.”

Published on Apr 24, 2026