Former India cricketers Virender Sehwag and Zaheer Khan analyzed Rajasthan Royals' (RR) loss to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in IPL 2026 on April 25 and highlighted how poor RR captain Riyan Parag was in his decisions, despite defending a huge total.
RR batted first after Parag lost the toss, and Sooryavanshi hammered 103 in 37 balls with 5 fours and 12 sixes, including reaching his ton in 36 balls, hitting the third fastest century ever in the IPL.
He also became the youngest and first uncapped Indian to score more than one century in IPL. His ton and 51 by Dhruv Jurel and 33 by Donovan Ferreira took RR to 228/6 in 20 overs.
In response, SRH's Abhishek Sharma (57) and Ishan Kishan (74), along with Nitish Kumar Reddy (36), took the attack to RR bowlers and won the game by 5 wickets in 18.3 overs.
At the halfway point of IPL 19, the Assamese all-rounder is under increasing heat, not only for his recent decisions but also for his dismal batting this season. After a good start to the season, the Royals have since lost three of their last four matches. The setbacks have called Parag's captaincy and tactical decisions into question.
Former India pacer Zaheer Khan was critical of Parag's choice to use eight bowlers and not allow elders like Ravindra Jadeja and Ravi Bishnoi more than one over.
“Just because you have so many options doesn't mean you have to use all of them. Just because a bowler has bowled one bad over doesn’t mean you discard him right away. The only way they could have stayed alive in the contest was by taking a wicket and creating an opening,” Zaheer said during the post-match discussion on Cricbuzz Live.
“I don’t think Riyan had a similar line of thought and should learn as captain. 230 is a big total, and when you know that the game is going to go deep, you should know which bowlers you are going to trust over others. Even if your premier bowlers leak runs, it doesn’t matter as they are the ones who are going to get you a wicket,” the Indian pace legend added.
On the other hand, Virender Sehwag slammed Parag for the lack of runs this season, saying that the RR skipper not scoring is putting pressure on other batters and on himself and his captaincy. But Sehwag added that the Royals management should take a call on Parag and decide whether he is indeed the best choice for captain or not.
“Riyan will have to think about his captaincy. More importantly, the management will have to decide whether he is the right choice as captain for us or not.
If I am the captain and am not scoring runs, then it will also affect my captaincy, because I am thinking about my own form. I am thinking, "This Vaibhav Sooryavanshi scored a century in just 36 balls. I am senior and experienced. Why am I not scoring runs?’ That does have an impact on one’s captaincy because you are too worried about your own form,” Sehwag said.
Parag has scored just 88 runs in eight outings in the ongoing season at an average and strike rate of 12.57 and 112.82, respectively, with a top score of just 20.
SRH, meanwhile, left RR behind and moved to the third spot in the IPL 2026 points table, despite being level on 10 points.
