"Captaincy affecting his fielding?": Sunil Gavaskar brutally roasts Riyan Parag for dropping Phil Salt

The legendary India National Cricket Team batsman Sunil Gavaskar was seen brutally mocking the Rajasthan Royals (RR) skipper Riyan Parag following his massive blunder on the field against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).

The 42nd match of the Indian Premier League 2025 between the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and the Rajasthan Royals (RR) is currently underway at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

Also Read: Sanju Samson has got a tear: Riyan Parag drops fresh update on RR captain

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Phil Salt survives early dismissal

Royal Challengers Bengaluru lost the toss, and they were invited to bat first. They had a terrific outing with the bat as Virat Kohli and Phil Salt built a 61-run opening partnership.

However, that partnership would have been cut short earlier if Riyan Parag hadn't made a blunder on the field. On the second ball of the 2nd over, Fazalhaq Farooqi bowled a low full-toss delivery to Phil Salt.

The RCB batsman tried to smash the ball past the mid-off fielder, but he didn't manage to get the elevation. Riyan Parag, who was standing at mid-off, took a quick couple of steps and dived forward to catch the ball with both hands.

However, he couldn't hold onto the ball as he took a tumble. The ball popped out of his hands, and he looked disappointed by the result. Sunil Gavaskar, who was on-air, saw this as an opportunity to mock Riyan Parag and questioned whether captaincy was affecting his fielding.

"Riyan Parag is not having the best of seasons. Is the captaincy affecting his fielding? We've seen captaincy affect batting and blowing but in his case, it is also fielding," said Gavaskar.

Watch: Riyan Parag drops Phil Salt

https://t.co/0ruZ7BVuYg

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Jofra Archer shines as RR restrict RCB to 205/5

Bowling first in the match, Rajasthan Royals managed to stop Royal Challengers Bengaluru to 205/5. Jofra Archer once again shone with the ball with his spell of 1/33, while Sandeep Sharma (2/45) and Wanindu Hasaranga (1/30) provided him with good support.

Speaking ahead of the match on ESPNCricinfo, Varun Aaron had talked about Jofra Archer bouncing back strong in the Indian Premier League after struggling with the ball for the past few months. He elaborated:

"It does take a while, especially when you return to play and you've not had a great series, then it doesn't do your confidence any good. But that said, his seam position was a bit off, it's a lot better now. And then again, like Nick said, as a fast bowler, you've just got to put those miles in, got to get that rhythm back. And also talking to the RR dugout, they were saying that he wasn't really well in the first two games. He had just come back a little late from England and he was a bit under the weather as well."

"Look, when you're not getting wickets, especially as an in-swing bowler, you try to start suddenly making swing happen from your hand. And that's the worst thing for an in-swing bowler because you want the ball to move as late as possible when you're bowling in-swing. If you see the way Jofra Archer was, especially in the Champions Trophy, he was falling away a little bit.

"His seam was pointing towards... Even in the first couple of games, his seam was pointing towards fine leg. But now, I would say, the dismissal of Priyansh Arya was the best example of what I'm talking about. The seam was bolt upright, pitched on middle, and just did enough to beat his bat and take out his off stumps That is Archer for you."