IPL 2026: ‘Suicide move’ – Sunil Gavaskar hits out at Riyan Parag for Donovan Ferreira’s 18th over

Rajasthan Royals captain Riyan Parag (ANI Photo) Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has launched a scathing criticism of Rajasthan Royals skipper Riyan Parag’s tactical call to hand Donovan Ferreira the 18th in their IPL 2026 clash against Delhi Capitals, calling it a “suicidal move” that changed the course of the match. Gavaskar did not hold back in assessing the decision and elaborated on why he felt the move was ill-timed and inappropriate for the match situation. He first questioned the tactical logic behind the bowling change, saying, “Handing the ball to Donovan Ferreira to bowl the 18th over was a suicidal move. You bring a slow bowler on the field and you don’t offer him any help. He was just playing on the field. It was his first over of the match,” Gavaskar said on JioStar. He then highlighted Ferreira’s fragile state in the game, adding: “He also scored a golden duck with the bat. Sometimes you have to see where the luck goes on the day.” Gavaskar emphasized that form and confidence should have played a key role in the decision, saying: “If he had given 40 or 50 runs and was very confident, it would have made sense to give him an over. But he bowled the first ball and you gave him the ball anyway.” He emphasized the impact it had on the outcome of the match: “He went for 16 runs in that and the match was over. Done and dusted.” Finally, he criticized a wider tactical judgment from the RR skipper: “Riyan Parag could have given the ball to the right bowler, an ordinary bowler. Even if that bowler gave away 20 runs, that’s not the point. The point is that giving the ball to Donovan Ferreira at that crucial stage was a suicidal decision by Rajasthan Royals.” The comments came after a dramatic encounter saw RR collapse from a commanding position. Rajasthan were cruising at 160/2 in 14 overs and looked set for more than 220 before Mitchell Starc unleashed a stunning turnaround. Mitchell Starc produced a match-defining 4/40, tearing through RR’s middle and lower order, while Lungi Ngidi and Madhav Tiwari added key breakthroughs as the innings crumbled to 193/8. Earlier, RR were powered by strong contributions from Vaibhav Suryavanshi (46 off 21), Dhruv Jurel (53) and Riyan Parag (51 off 26) who led the Delhi charge and put RR in a dominant position. Paraga’s aggressive phase lifted RR to a high scoring tally but Starc’s late burst turned the game completely and triggered a collapse that saw Rajasthan lose several wickets in quick succession.

Based on the recent performance, is Rajasthan Royals run to the playoffs still viable?

In reply, Delhi Capitals made the chase easy. Abishek Porel (51 off 31) and KL Rahul (56 off 42) stitched a 105-run stand in the opening stand before Axar Patel’s unbeaten 34 and Ashutosh Sharma’s quick cameo sealed victory in 19.2 overs. The result lifted Delhi Capitals to seventh place with 12 points, keeping their play-off hopes alive, while Rajasthan Royals had to ponder a costly tactical gamble that has now come under sharp scrutiny.