Rajasthan Royals have decided to name all-rounder Riyan Parag as their new captain, ESPNcricinfo reported on Friday, February 12. Parag, who has been with the franchise for several years, will take over from Sanju Samson for the 2026 Indian Premier League season.
The change in captaincy comes in the backdrop of RR opting to trade Sanju Samson to Chennai Super Kings. Rajasthan swapped out Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran in exchange for Samson, but opted to keep the lead in their core by backing one of their homegrown players.
Parag, who is still only 24, has led RR before. He stepped in last season when Samson missed eight games due to injury. However, Parago’s position as captain proved to be challenging, with the team only managing to win two of those eight games.
ESPNcricinfo further reported that Parag was among a select group of players interviewed by head coach Kumar Sangakkara before the management finalized its decision. This also marks a transition period for the franchise as RR will have a new captain and a new head coach after Rahul Dravid parted ways with the team after the 2025 season.
Rajasthan Royals finished ninth last season, winning just four out of 14 matches.
Highly rated since his IPL debut in 2019, Parag has appeared in 84 matches in the league. His outstanding season came in 2024 when he scored 573 runs at a strike rate of 150.
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Issued by:
Kingshuk Kusari
Published on:
February 13, 2026