"It was right decision": Riyan Parag defends toss call despite conceding 286 vs SRH

Under the leadership of Riyan Parag, the Rajasthan Royals (RR) were hammered by the Pat Cummins-led Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the second match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025.

Riyan Parag's Team Rajasthan Royals (RR) lost the match by 44 runs against Team Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad on Sunday, March 23.

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Rajasthan Royals bowlers demolished by Sunrisers Hyderabad batters

RR won the toss and chose to bowl first in the match. The decision heavily backfired as all the bowlers were taken to the cleaners by the explosive Sunrisers Hyderabad batting unit.

Maheesh Theekshana picked the first wicket for the Royals by dismissing Abhishek Sharma in the 3rd over and they only found a second wicket in the 10th over when Tushar Deshpande dismissed Travis Head.

Ishan Kishan was one who troubled RR the most as he blasted a sensational ton and took Sunrisers Hyderabad to the second-biggest total of IPL - 286/6.

Chasing the target, RR lost Yashasvi Jaiswal, Riyan Parag, and Nitish Rana early. Then, Sanju Samson and Dhruv Jurel smashed brilliant half-centuries to gain some momentum. The lower-order batters also chipped in with runs, but the target was too big and RR were restricted to 242/6.

I feel collectively we took that decision, it was the right decision - Riyan Parag on toss decision

Speaking after the match, Riyan Parag said that he expected a tough outing against SRH and backed his toss decision despite the bowlers being taken to the cleaners.

"It was tough, just like I expected. Credit to SRH but we could have executed better. We will have a sit down and chat about today. (On choosing to bowl first) I feel collectively we took that decision, it was the right decision but it was about executing better. You’d mind if 280 is on the board, in the toss I said 200 was what I expected but 220-240 would have been good to take," Riyan Parag said.

Riyan Parag further said that they had quite a few positives in the match as Dhruv Jurel, Sanju Samson, Shimron Hetmyer, Tushar Deshpande and Sandeep Sharma did a good job. He said:

"Quite a few positives, the way Dhruv and Sanju batted was brilliant. And then Hettie and Shivam as well later on. Tushar bowled really well, Sandy paaji did well. A win or a less, we take the learnings and then we forget."

How Did RR Perform in the Previous IPL Match Against SRH?

Rajasthan Royals (RR) had a tough outing in their IPL 2024 Qualifier 2 clash against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Chennai as they lost by 36 runs while chasing the target and eventually finished at 139/7.

The young batting sensation Yashasvi Jaiswal provided early fireworks with a blistering 42 runs off 21 balls, but his dismissal triggered a shocking collapse.

Sanju Samson, Riyan Parag, and Shimron Hetmyer all failed to build partnerships, leaving Dhruv Jurel (56* off 35) to fight a lone battle. However, lack of support from the other end meant RR never really looked in the game.

Earlier in the first innings, Rajasthan Royals bowlers did well, with Trent Boult (3/45), Avesh Khan (3/27) and Sandeep Sharma (2/25) leading the attack. Boult’s early strikes had SRH reeling at 57/3, but Heinrich Klaasen’s 50 and Shahbaz Ahmed’s valuable 18-run knock pushed SRH to a competitive and match-winning total of 175/9.