Rajasthan Royals (RR) have appointed Riyan Parag as their captain for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 season. The 24-year-old all-rounder has valuable leadership experience at both the domestic and franchise levels, having previously led the Royals in eight matches during the 2025 season when regular skipper Sanju Samson was ruled out due to injury.
RR officially announced Parag's appointment on 13 February. In a recorded message shared by the franchise, the newly named captain revealed that he was informed about the decision by head coach Kumar Sangakkara and team owner Manoj Badale ahead of the T20 World Cup 2026 practice match against the United States.
Parag said on Instagram, “A lot of emotions, but then straight to the point, like what do I need to do next? Like what do we need to change, or do better to finish in a better place?”
Parag beat out contenders like Ravindra Jadeja and Yashasvi Jaiswal to secure the full-time leadership role. The Royals were in need of a new captain after Sanju Samson's off-season trade with Chennai Super Kings (CSK) ahead of the auction. During his stint as stand-in captain in 2025, Parag led RR in eight matches, and led the team to two wins.
As the IPL 2026 season approaches, the Royals will aim to end their long-running title drought and add a second trophy to their cabinet. Their only IPL win came in the inaugural season of 2008 under the leadership of the great Shane Warne.
Meanwhile, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is expected to announce the official schedule for the 2026 season soon. The organizers are currently finalizing the dates, ensuring that they do not clash with the upcoming state elections in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, home to CSK and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) respectively. The new season is likely to begin in late March and run until late May or early June.
Rajasthan Royals team for IPL 2026
Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ryan Parag, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer, Jofra Archer, Tushar Deshpande, Sandeep Sharma, Nandre Berger, Sam Curran, Adam Milne, Quena Mafaka, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Donovan Ferreira, Ravi Singh, Shubham Dubey, Kuldeep Sen, Yudhveer Singh Charak, Luan-Dre Pretorius, Vignesh Puthur, Sushant Mishra, Yashraj Punja, Brijesh Sharma, Aman Rao
Get every cricket update! Follow us: :
Leave a Reply