Parag previously served as RR's stand-in captain when Sanju Samson’s was injured last year..
Riyan Parag has been officially named the full-time captain of the Rajasthan Royals (RR) for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 season, starting March 28.
This major leadership transition follows the high-profile trade of former long-standing captain Sanju Samson to Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
While Parag previously served as a stand-in captain for eight matches during the 2025 edition in Samson’s absence, this marks his first official stint as RR’s full-time skipper.
Samson moved to CSK in exchange for veteran all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and England's Sam Curran. With this deal, Jadeja returned to the Royals camp 17 years after his debut with the franchise in 2008
Speaking on his YouTube channel, former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin said the task is cut out for Parag while also adding that he had expected the RR management to hand over the leadership role to Jadeja.
"Riyan Parag has captained Assam in domestic cricket. RR are a very systematic team; they would have interviewed him before making him the captain. I just hope they also put Yashasvi Jaiswal in the same pedigree and trust him to be the captain in the future. Somewhere in my head, I thought Ravindra Jadeja would be the captain. They could have made him the captain and chosen Riyan as the vice-captain," Ashwin stated.
"Riyan is still young, but he has played a decade of IPL cricket. It is such a big thing. I think Riyan, the captain, would have his task cut out. It is not that easy. Many youngsters want the captaincy in the IPL. They compete for it, they try and go hard for it. Handling an entire season, handling the roller coaster of wins and losses, won't be that easy. You have to discuss things with coaches. RR are a very systematic team. They hold many meetings there. He also has to look after his batting form," he added.
Ashwin predicted a "challenging year" for Parag as captain, stating that latter’s success will heavily depend on the performance of the RR bowlers.
He advised Parag to lean on Jadeja's experience for suggestions during matches, rather than solely relying on younger teammates like Yashasvi Jaiswal or Dhruv Jurel.
"It will be a challenging year. If the bowlers deliver, it will make his job easier. It's not like that Parag has to look towards Jaiswal and Jurel; he has Ravindra Jadeja to look to for some suggestions. Hopefully, Kumar Sangakkara and the rest of the backroom staff can make his job a lot easier," Ashwin remarked.
Rajasthan Royals will open their IPL 2026 campaign against Chennai Super Kings on March 30 in Guwahati.