IPL 2026: Time to deliver for Riyan Parag as fulltime Royals captain
New BCCI rules geared to neturalise any ‘home advantage,’ says his father and former Assam player
The pressure of leading Rajasthan Royals at his ‘home’ Guwahati against three of the most heavyweight teams in IPL — that too within the first two weeks of the Indian Premier League — will be an acid test for Riyan Parag. However, it will also be an opportunity for the first-ever cricketer from Assam to make the senior India team to vindicate the management’s faith in him.
The appointment of the 24-year-old allrounder as the fulltime Royals captain has been a contentious issue since last year, when Parag was named as stand-in captain ahead of proven international star Yashasvi Jaiswal after Sanju Samson’s injury mid-season. The buzz was that both Jaiswal and Parag were in the leadership race since there was a trust deficit between the management and Samson, which saw the Player of the Series of the last World T20 end an 11-year association with the franchise in two phases.
It will hence be redemption time for RR, whose performance was patchy last season to say the least, with only four wins in 14 games to end in ninth position. ‘’It’s certainly a matter of pride for our family to see Riyan leading out the side in Guwahati in their season-opener, but it’s more important for the franchise to produce a consistent performance under him. Last season, they didn’t play as poorly as the standings finally suggest, but they lost quite a few matches by very close margins,’’ remarked Parag Das, Riyan’s father and a former Assam cricketer.
Speaking to National Herald over phone, Parag said fulltime responsibility this season would help his son plan in sync with Kumar Sangakkara — the team's director of cricket who is back in the thick of things after Rahul Dravid stepped down as head coach after just one season. ‘’It’s a refreshingly young team with a fast maturing Vaibhav Raghuvanshi joining Jaiswal at the top of the order, followed by the likes of Riyan, Dhruv Jurel and Shimron Hetmyer — who was in good nick during the T20 World Cup.’’
RR open their campaign against five-time champions Chennai Super Kings at Guwahati's Barsapara Stadium on 30 March, go on to the decorated Mumbai Indians on 7 March, and defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Guwahati on 10 March. They will, in between, travel to Ahmedabad to take on Gujarat Titans on 4 March.
While three of the first four games on home turf (before they move away to play the remaining ‘home’ games in Jaipur) may be music to the ears of fans, Das was quick to point out that the new BCCI guidelines to provide a level playing field this season signals an end to the home advantage as a whole.
‘’The four-day blackout on use of the main playing square for practice, along with the time-cap of three-and-a-half hours to finish the never-ending practice matches are meant to ensure that the match wickets remain fresh. These are moves to negate any talk of home advantage,’’ he observed.
Meanwhile, Riyan threw in his lot behind Suryavanshi to play his normal game in what will be his second IPL season. His 35-ball ton against Gujarat Titans in only his second appearance in the competition last season was not only the quickest IPL ton by an Indian but also made him the youngest-ever centurion in IPL history.
“My only message for Vaibhav is to go out and play. If the first ball is meant to be hit, hit it. There's no issue in that,” Riyan said during a recent press conference in Jaipur. “Of course, he (Vaibhav) will have some pressure coming his way but I am going to tell him that whatever pressure is going to be there, Jaiswal will handle it as he is good enough to handle that role.”
The new RR captain also reiterated his confidence in the youngster and said his numbers speak for themselves. “I don’t think any young player has done what Vaibhav has over the last one year. He is scoring runs everywhere,” Riyan added in reference to the latter’s exploits in the successful Under-19 ICC World Cup campaign.