With a last-minute Indian Premier League playoff berth in his first full season as captain, Riyan Parag—often misinterpreted and the target of social media trolls—has returned the Rajasthan Royals’ great faith in him.
Since joining the team in 2019, the 24-year-old cricketer from Assam has faced criticism at every turn. This is partly due to his extremely self-assured and direct nature, which has earned him the label of “arrogant” in addition to his low IPL stats.
“I think I’ve seen very few players who have been criticised like Riyan has for about seven years now. He is the absolute right guy to lead this franchise,” Royals head coach Kumar Sangakkara made a forceful defense of Parag after securing the top-four spot in Mumbai.
His poor performance was questioned season after season until his breakthrough year in 2024, when he was promoted to number four and amassed 573 runs at a strike rate near 150.
He was called up for India later that year following a stellar IPL performance, but he was subsequently forced to leave the national squad due to a severe shoulder condition that required surgery. Parag has yet to find a way back in the T20 format, where a number of players are prepared to take control.
After Sanju Samson left, he was given captaincy ahead of Dhruv Jurel, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Ravindra Jadeja because the Royals’ top management continued to have faith in him.
Even in the current season, Parag is under tremendous strain, in part because he didn’t score many runs in the first half of the competition before being targeted by several trolls after being discovered vaping in the dressing room on national television.
The team’s late-season slump, which nearly put them on the verge of elimination, coincided with the occurrence. He was open about his team’s dismal performance, but he also opted to criticize the analysts and experts for allegedly making personal comments about the players.
Despite improving in the second half, he missed two games due to a hamstring issue.
Even though he hadn’t entirely recovered, Parag came back for the crucial final league match against the Mumbai Indians and made two outstanding captaincy decisions that sealed the five-time champions’ fate.
Before bringing back the X-factor pacer to end the dangerous stand between Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav, Jofra Archer was moved up the order for a late swing. Parag’s post-match remarks were a reflection of his emotional outbursts.
“I have taken a lot of brave calls actually this season. That’s how I like to lead. That’s how I lead Assam as well. You got to take your chances, it’s not a gamble,” he asserted.
Parag hails from a family of sportspersons; his mother is an India swimmer, and his father is a top-tier cricketer. When he was 16 months old, he was holding a plastic bat.
Parag’s excellent work ethic and frequently misunderstood demeanor were mentioned by someone who worked with him during his India U-19 days. Along with Prithvi Shaw and Shubman Gill, the Guwahati-born cricket player was a member of the winning U-19 World Cup squad.
“He did not get to do much in that U-19 World Cup but his work ethic stood out. He is a very nice boy. He won’t stand in front of you with folded hands but diligently do what is asked of him in practice.
“Of late, he has been having a little bit of trouble with his shoulder, that is why you don’t see him bowling that much. He is a special cricketer with the bat in hand and has the natural ability of hitting huge sixes. He has not realised his potential yet and he knows that,” PTI quoted the coach as saying.
Parag has already done enough to maintain his position as the team’s leader, but on Wednesday night, he will do everything in his power to take the Royals farther in the competition.
