3 min readMay 2, 2026 12:02 AM IST
Putting all the recent controversy behind him Rajasthan Royals skipper Riyan Parag the batter stepped up for his team, slamming 90 off 50 deliveries with the help of 8 fours and 5 sixes against the Delhi Capitals on Friday. His innings helped RR post 225/6 but it wasn’t enough as DC with the help of KL Rahul and Pathum Nissanka, chased down the target and won by 7 wickets.
“I don’t think I need to answer any critics or anyone talking about it. But at the end of the day, my job is to get two points. So my score and my innings don’t really matter if we lose the game,” Parag said after the match, reacting to a question on if he answered his critics.
“I think it was a good score. I thought 200 was a par score here. It was going to slow down a bit, but I think we could have bowled way better in the middle overs, not let them get away a little too much. And then a lot of boundaries in one single over and that repeated. So I felt we missed the trick with that, but no harm with the decision we made,” he added.
Parag was on Thursday fined 25 per cent of his match fee and handed one demerit point by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for vaping inside the dressing room during Rajasthan Royals’ IPL 2026 clash against Punjab Kings in Mullanpur on Tuesday.
“Riyan Parag, Captain, Rajasthan Royals, has been fined 25% of his match fee and has also accumulated one Demerit Point for breaching Level 1 of the IPL’s Code of Conduct for Players and Team Officials during Match No. 40 of the TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 against Punjab Kings,” the BCCI said in a statement.
The statement added that Riyan was found to have breached Article 2.21 of the IPL’s Code of Conduct, which relates to ‘conduct that brings the game into disrepute.’
“The incident occurred during the second innings when Riyan was seen using a vape inside the dressing room. Riyan admitted to the offence and accepted the sanction imposed by the Match Referee, Amit Sharma,” the board said.
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Visuals of the incident, captured during the live broadcast, went viral and triggered widespread debate. The BCCI added it ‘is also exploring other options to initiate proceedings for stringent action against the erring team, its officials and player/s to ensure that the reputation of IPL remains intact’.
