Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar questioned the Rajasthan Royals’ decision to hand over the captaincy of the team to Riyan Parag. Manjrekar said that the RR management had unfairly rewarded Parag despite the latter not having worked hard.
Parag’s own form with the bat has been nothing to write home about in IPL 2026. But, in his captaincy, the Rajasthan Royals are sitting at a relatively comfortable fourth on the points table with six wins in 10 matches. They will take on the Gujarat Titans in Jaipur on May 9.
Riyan Parag’s RR career
Parag joined the Rajasthan Royals as a 17-year-old in 2019. Since then, he has been an almost permanent fixture in the team, but hasn’t always been consistent. In 94 matches, he has made 1773 runs at an average of 25.69 and a strike rate of 142. He has also made only 8 fifties with a highest of 90.
Parag’s best season was inarguably in 2024 when RR finished third in the league. That season, he made 573 runs at an average of 52 and a strike rate of 149. That excellent form also led to an India cap the same year.
Parag hasn’t managed even 400 runs in any season before or since. In 2025, Parag filled in as captain for a few matches with Sanju Samson out injured. In 2026, Samson left for CSK, and Parag was given the role full-time.
In IPL 2026, Parag has made just 207 runs in 10 matches at an average of 20 and a strike rate of around 144. He made his highest score of the season, 90, in his last match. That knock is his only fifty this year.
“I don’t think it makes sense from a cricketing point of view” – Sanjay Manjrekar on Riyan Parag’s appointment as captain
Manjrekar was speaking on Sportstar’s ‘Insight Edge’ podcast about Riyan Parag and his rise to becoming RR captain.
“He is not one of your typical Indian players. He’s fit and just the way he walks around and everything struts around. But I would say, after the kind of performances I’ve seen over the years. It is something that I find a little strange that the Rajasthan Royals have backed him so much,” Manjrekar said.
“I mean, Sanju Samson captained them for a few years, and then he was removed, and Riyan Parag took over. I don’t know what happened there. But I don’t think from a cricketing point of view, it makes any sense at all. It’s a bit harsh to say this, but he’s just got too much as a reward. Having not really worked hard for those rewards. So it’s a very interesting case pertaining to the Rajasthan Royals,” he added.
His self-confidence is unbelievable- Sanjay Manjrekar
Manjrekar went on to talk about what specifically it was that set Riyan Parag apart from other Indian cricketers of not just his age, but all ages in general.
“What catches the eye about Riyan Parag is his unbelievable self-confidence. Even when he was not delivering, if you saw him in the field, the kind of stuff that he did. It was just almost arrogance for somebody who was struggling to, you know, fit in or deliver. So he tells me about someone who has this confidence, and it seems genuine. It doesn’t seem to be a put-on,” Manjrekar said.
“So when I see his overall career as well. You would seem he would have played numerous innings of 14 or 15 runs, where he would come in and hit a couple of cracking shots, and you would be blown away.”
“And then the next body’s playing the same shot and getting out. That is his MO. That is how Riyan Parag generally plays: sensational shots, but I think somewhere the overconfidence, or whatever, just gets him to keep trying to play those shots.”
And because he mishits so many and gets out, he’s obviously not focusing on every attacking shot he plays. So he’s an interesting character. That is the captain, after all; that is something that I’ve never understood with the Rajasthan Royals,” he added.
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