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Former India captain Virender Sehwag said that he was not impressed with Rajasthan Royals skipper Riyan Parag's captaincy in IPL 2026.
Parag led RR to a third-place finish this year, after losing Qualifier 2 to the Gujarat Titans on Friday. GT will now play defending champions and table-toppers Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the IPL final on Sunday.
Parag was appointed RR's full-time captain for this IPL season after taking the responsibility in 8 out of 14 matches last year due to an injury to regular captain Sanju Samson.
Samson was then traded away to the Chennai Super Kings, with Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran coming in from the "Yellow Army".
Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2026
After the disappointment of finishing 9th in IPL 2025, RR managed to come back in IPL 2026. The team won each of their first four matches in the tournament before a temporary slide.
After the four-match win streak, Riyan Parag's men proceeded to lose six of their eight matches. Parag even missed two matches due to injuries this year.
With qualification on the line, RR pulled themselves together and won their last two matches to confirm their spot as the fourth team in the top four on the points table.
Just like in the rest of the season, RR rode on the individual brilliance of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Jofra Archer in the playoffs. Sooryavanshi made 97 from just 29 balls, and Archer took three wickets in the powerplay against SRH in the Eliminator.
RR waltzed into Qualifier 2, but it was a different challenge this time. Sooryavanshi made 96 this time, but the support was minimal. Shubman Gill's century, though, sent RR home and put GT in their third final in just five years as a franchise.
"He has had no contribution as captain" - Sehwag
Virender Sehwag spoke to Cricbuzz and said that he did not think Parag was a particularly reactive captain. Sehwag said that RR's success was built on some impressive individual contributions, but Parag never made any proactive decisions.
He has not particularly impressed me as a captain. If one of your individual players has done something extraordinary, then you win the match. But he has had no contribution as a captain. He did not play the right players in the middle order. If you are not reactive to the bowling changes and the field placements, then it becomes difficult to make a comeback," he said.
"I didn't feel like Riyan Parag talked to a particular bowler or used someone at a time when a wicket could be taken. I don't think you become a better captain by just going through the motions," Virender Sehwag added.
Riyan Parag in IPL 2026
Despite taking on the all-important middle order role at Nos. 4 and 5 this year, Riyan Parag's returns with the bat have remained quiet.
His playing the last few matches through injury may have been a factor. In 14 matches, Riyan Parag has scored only 309 runs at an average of 23.76 and a strike rate of 157. He also scored two half-centuries.
Also Read: Ravichandran Ashwin unhappy with Rajasthan Royals for abandoning Vaibhav Sooryavanshi
