Former Indian player Mohammad Kaif believes Ravindra Jadeja won’t be the captain of the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in IPL 2026. Kaif has instead backed Riyan Parag to be the skipper. Notably, Jadeja and Sam Curran were traded to the Rajasthan Royals from the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for Samson as well.
He said in a video on his YouTube channel, ‘Mohammad Kaif’: “Ravindra Jadeja will not become captain. The reason is they have been grooming Riyan Parag and invested a lot on him. Parag had replaced Samson as captain for a few matches due to the former’s injury. He is still learning the trade but Kumar Sangakkara is there and knows Parag for a lot of time now. When Jadeja was in Royals at the very start, Sangakkara was not there.”
“So, it takes time to build that rapport. But he has been working with Parag for 4-5 years now. Due to that bonding, Manoj Badale might have said even if Dravid is leaving, Sangakkara and Parag have a good tuning. Badale knows the team can’t progress if they don’t have a good relationship. He has been with the team since 2008,” he further added.
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“Rajasthan Royals are known to not spend a lot of money, that’s how their planning was in the auction. But they spent all their money in the last two auctions. The Royals now have a mindset of spending money to make the team stronger. I feel Riyan Parag is higher than Jadeja in the pecking order. It would be the right call too because Jadeja hasn’t been part of the side for a long time now. So, he wouldn’t be aware of their strategies. Whatever Samson will have to go through in CSK, Jadeja will be experiencing it too. He will have to spend two months with the team, work with Parag, Sangakkara and the management. I don’t think they will make Jadeja captain over Parag,” Kaif again shared.
When he was asked why the Royals went for a veteran like Jadeja, Kaif said that an Indian spinner in the playing eleven makes a huge difference as well. He also reckoned that RR couldn’t quite get the job done with Maheesh Theekshana and Wanindu Hasaranga as well.
“In IPL 2025, Rajasthan Royals gave away at least 200 runs on seven occasions. It’s a sign that bowling was weak. They needed an Indian spinner, Theekshana and Hasaranga couldn’t quite do the trick. Theekshana was bought for ₹4.4 crore and Hasaranga went for almost ₹5.5 crore; hence, two foreign player’s slots were filled. Jofra Archer came into the eleven but if Nandre Burger plays, Royals have to drop Hetmyer. Things have opened up now since they have an all-rounder in Sam Curran. As far as age goes, it’s just a number. As long as you can run fast, dive, take catches, bat well and bowl well, a player can play up to 45 years of age,” he added.
“But fitness shouldn’t be compromised with and Jadeja is an example of it. Rohit Sharma was said he is 38 years old but he made a ton in Sydney. I feel if a player plays well, is a match-winner and his mind is sharp, they should play. Our culture is such that people go after age. I don’t believe in it. But I still work on my fitness. Cricket is not a high-endurance game. A reasonable fitness level along with skilful batting and bowling is all it takes. The Royals wouldn’t have thought about Jadeja’s age because they needed an Indian spinner,” he shared.
“When they came in top three, the Royals had conceded 200 runs only thrice. The Royals then had Trent Boult, Ravichandran Ashwin, Sandeep Sharma and Yuzvendra Chahal. In IPL 2024, they had won eight matches out of their first nine. So, bowlers had more of a say then. Since Rajasthan conceded 200 runs seven times, they sacrificed a batter but got two bowlers. Hence, I see the plan of making their bowling unit a lot stronger,” Mohammad Kaif concluded.
