Following a crushing defeat in Qualifier 2 at the New Chandigarh Stadium on Friday night, Rajasthan Royals captain Riyan Parag was not too disheartened and was rather happy with his team’s overall show in the 2026 Indian Premier League.
After batting first against Gujarat Titans, RR posted a competitive 214 thanks to Vaibhav Sooryavanshi‘s 96 off 47 balls. There was a little collapse that left RR a few runs short. However, Parag thought whatever they had on the board wasn’t a bad score.
“It was a par score; it was defendable. I felt after the heavy roller, it [the pitch] got better in the 2nd innings. In the first innings, the bowlers got some grip, and the slower ones did well. I thought 230 would have been a par score. A score around 240 would have been challenging, but we needed the openers [to shine] early [on]. It didn’t happen, and it became tough for us,” Parag said after the match.
Parag said not many were expecting his team to come this far in the league. So, he was proud of his bunch. “To sum it up in one sentence, there were many positives. We weren’t supposed to qualify, given that many players were young and inexperienced, but many youngsters performed well and can only improve from here,” he said.
Special praise for Sooryavanshi!
Sooryavanshi has been RR’s biggest star by a mile this season. With 776 runs at an average of 48.50 and a strike rate of 237.30, he is at present leading the Orange Cap race. Parag was extremely impressed with the 15-year-old boy wonder of Indian cricket who showed great temperament during the course of his innings. He showed the patient side of his batting, to all intents and purposes. Parag said there was a lot more to Sooryavanshi’s batting than meets the eye.
“I can’t put it into words, there’s one way where you slog and score many runs. But he doesn’t slog, you could see his innings today — he calculates and plays his shots. I can’t say how, but hopefully he will go on to do well in his career, do well for Rajasthan Royals and win us a second title,” he concluded.
GT will now play defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday. Since it’s their home ground, they will fancy their chances for sure.
