Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], December 5 : Riyan Parag said on Friday that he is not focused on the possibility of becoming the Rajasthan Royals (RR) captain ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 season, but stated he's prepared to take on the role if the team management decides to entrust him with it, as per ESPNcricinfo.
Parag said there have been no talks about the RR captaincy yet and that the decision will be taken after the auction. He said that he is not thinking about it for now, as focusing on it too early could disrupt his mindset and consume unnecessary mental space.
"There haven't been any discussions about captaincy at RR yet. Manoj (Badale) sir (the team owner) has told us that the decision will be made only after the auction. I'm not thinking about it right now either. If I start thinking about it now, it will mess with my mindset, and a significant amount of mental space will be occupied by just one thing - captaincy, captaincy, captaincy," Parag said as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
"If the team and management feel that I'm the right fit for the captaincy role, then I'm more than ready. Similarly, if they feel that I can contribute more effectively to the team as just a player, I'm ready for that too. My main goal is to have a season where I score 500-600 runs and take 10-15 wickets and help the team win the trophy."
Parag said that after captaining seven or eight IPL matches in the IPL 2025 season, his post-match reviews with coaches and analysts showed most of his decisions were correct.
"Last year, I captained in seven or eight IPL matches, and I don't know what people outside think, but when I went into the dressing room and analysed my decisions with the coaches and data analysts, about 80 to 85% of my decisions were correct," he said. "You learn a lot from that, and when you go to the big stage, you don't feel the pressure of how to captain or how to manage the team and the field. Overall, I always enjoy captaincy, and it has helped me evolve a lot as a person," he added.
Parag isn't worried about RR entering the IPL 2026 auction without a captain. He explained that major decisions are made collectively by the leadership group, including Ravindra Jadeja, along with coaches, before team owners decide. Therefore, a captain isn't needed just to participate in the auction.
"In RR, any major decision that is made involves all of us. Any big decision is made only after consulting everyone. For example, now that Jaddu bhai (Jadeja) has joined, he will definitely be a part of our leadership group," he said. "There are around four or five people in this leadership group. If we need to trade a player in the team, or if we need to bid for a player in the auction, we discuss it with this leadership group and the coaching staff, and only then do the team owners make a decision. So I don't think we need a captain before the auction to go there and raise the paddle for us," Parag said further.
Notably, Rajasthan Royals traded their captain, Sanju Samson to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in exchange for all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran in one of the most high-profile swaps in the IPL history ahead of the 2026 season.
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