Not thinking about RR captaincy, but prepared if management wants, says Riyan Parag

Riyan Parag has made it clear that he is not actively thinking about the possibility of becoming the Rajasthan Royals (RR) captain, but remains fully prepared to take on the responsibility if the management entrusts him with the role. The 23-year-old led the side during the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) in the absence of Sanju Samson, who featured primarily as an Impact Player before being ruled out of the season.

With RR trading Samson to the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in exchange for Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran ahead of the IPL 2026 auction, Parag is likely to be one of the contenders to take over the captaincy for the upcoming season.

“There haven’t been any discussions about captaincy at RR yet. Manoj (Badale) sir (the team owner) has told us that the decision will be made only after the auction. I’m not thinking about it right now either. If I start thinking about it now, it will mess with my mindset, and a significant amount of mental space will be occupied by just one thing – captaincy, captaincy, captaincy,” said Parag as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

“If the team and management feel that I’m the right fit for the captaincy role, then I’m more than ready. Similarly, if they feel that I can contribute more effectively to the team as just a player, I’m ready for that too. My main goal is to have a season where I score 500-600 runs and take 10-15 wickets and help the team win the trophy,” he added.

Parag led RR in eight matches during IPL 2025, with the team securing two victories under his captaincy. He also brings leadership experience from domestic cricket, having captained Assam across formats after first being handed the T20 reins in 2021. In this year’s Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT), Assam have won two of their five matches so far and sit fifth in Elite Group A. Parag noted that the captaincy experience has played a significant role in helping him grow both as a player and as a person.

“Last year, I captained in seven or eight IPL matches, and I don’t know what people outside think, but when I went into the dressing room and analysed my decisions with the coaches and data analysts, about 80 to 85% of my decisions were correct/ You learn a lot from that, and when you go to the big stage, you don’t feel the pressure of how to captain or how to manage the team and the field. Overall, I always enjoy captaincy, and it has helped me evolve a lot as a person,” said Parag.

Parag is also unfazed by RR entering the IPL 2026 auction on December 16 in Abu Dhabi without a confirmed captain. The franchise goes into the auction with INR 16.05 crore remaining in their purse and nine slots left to complete their squad.

“In RR, any major decision that is made involves all of us. Any big decision is made only after consulting everyone. For example, now that Jaddu bhai (Jadeja) has joined, he will definitely be a part of our leadership group. There are around four or five people in this leadership group. If we need to trade a player in the team, or if we need to bid for a player in the auction, we discuss it with this leadership group and the coaching staff, and only then do the team owners make a decision. So I don’t think we need a captain before the auction to go there and raise the paddle for us,” said Parag.

Parag also spoke about his close bond with Samson, acknowledging that the wicketkeeper-batter has been a guiding influence throughout his IPL career. He revealed that it was Samson who appointed him as vice-captain, a role that has helped him develop both on and off the field.

“Sanju bhai has played a huge role in my career. I don’t want to think about him leaving because if I do, I’ll feel bad. I was very close to him, and when I first joined the team, he never made me feel like I was just a 17-18-year old kid from Assam. Perhaps that was also because he had a similar background and had also come from Kerala as a young player of 16-18 years old, a place from where not many cricketers emerge,” said Parag.

“He has taught me a lot and given me a lot of love. In the last few years, whenever Jos bhai (Jos Buttler, who was with RR from 2018 to 2024) would go back to England before the playoffs, [Samson] would make me his vice-captain, tell me to attend team meetings, and take the lead in team meetings, deciding what to discuss and what the team should do. So I’ve learned and understood a lot from him,” he added.

Parag has been going through a lean patch in domestic cricket but remains confident of returning to India’s white-ball plans once he fully recovers from a shoulder niggle. In September, he had impressed with three List A fifties for India A against Australia A, but his form dipped in the unofficial ODIs against South Africa A. In the Ranji Trophy, he managed 100 runs across three matches, while in SMAT 2025, his scores read 5, 15, 14, 0, and 5.

“Having played in the IPL and domestic cricket for so long, I’ve gone through these phases (of bad form) many times. Just because I’m not scoring runs here doesn’t mean I won’t score runs in the IPL. There have been three or four instances where I’ve struggled in the domestic season but then performed well in the IPL. There have also been two occasions where I scored runs at an average of 45 or 50 in seven SMAT matches, but in the same season, I couldn’t even manage 70 runs in 14 IPL matches,” said Parag.

“I even cried in the bathroom wondering why I wasn’t scoring runs. I used to think, ‘what should I do? Should I practice a little extra, or not practice at all, or just go on a holiday?’ I’ve tried everything. Now I don’t think about all that too much. Now, my frame of mind is the most important thing for me, and I focus on enjoying my game and my life; the runs will come eventually,” he added.

The right-handed batter made his T20I debut in July 2024 and has featured in nine matches so far. He has also played a single ODI, making his debut in August 2024.

“So I wouldn’t say this form is a cause for concern for me. I don’t see any technical issues in my batting at the moment either. If there were any problems, my dad would tell me; he watches all my matches. It’s just that I’m coming back from a shoulder injury, so I have to play a little cautiously,” said Parag.

“I think it’s because of this injury that I’m not currently in the Indian team. Otherwise, I think I can play in both formats of white-ball cricket. As soon as my shoulder is completely healed, you’ll see me back in the Indian blue jersey again, because I don’t think I’ve done anything wrong or played bad whenever I’ve been given an opportunity in the Indian team,” he concluded.