Riyan Parag set to be named Rajasthan Royals' new captain

Parag has led them before, in IPL 2025, but will take over full time now after Samson's trade to CSK

Riyan Parag is set to be named the next Rajasthan Royals (RR) captain ahead of IPL 2026. Parag's promotion comes after the departure of Sanju Samson to Chennai Super Kings (CSK), a trade that came in exchange for two allrounders, Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran.

Parag, 24, has led RR before. He did it last year, when Samson missed eight games with injuries. Parag led RR in those eight matches, of which they won only two. Parag averaged a healthy 38.57 in those matches, ending that stint with a career-best 95 against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at Eden Gardens.

ESPNcricinfo has learnt Parag was among a few players who head coach Kumar Sangakkara had interviews with, before finalising him as the captain. This means RR will have a new captain and a new head coach, after Rahul Dravid parted ways with the franchise after the 2025 season, when they finished second from bottom with just four wins from 14 games.

Since making his IPL debut in 2019, Parag has played all seven seasons for RR. He got to play all their games in the last two seasons. The 2024 edition was his best in terms of his run tally - of 573 - which he scored at an average of 52.09, while striking at 149.21. Overall, he has played 84 matches for RR for 1566 runs and seven wickets.

Samson represented RR for 11 seasons and had indicated after the last IPL season that he was looking for a change, and wanted to be released by RR.