Rajasthan Royals captain Riyan Parag delivered a brutally honest assessment of his team’s performance after their disappointing five-wicket defeat against the Delhi Capitals in IPL 2026. The loss marked Rajasthan’s third consecutive defeat and dealt a major blow to their playoff hopes, leaving them in a must-win situation heading into the final phase of the league stage.
Playing at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, the Rajasthan Royals looked completely in control for most of their innings. RR raced to 160/2 after 14 overs, with Parag leading from the front through a fluent and aggressive half-century. At one stage, Rajasthan appeared set to cross the 220-run mark comfortably. However, the momentum shifted dramatically after Parag’s dismissal as the Delhi Capitals staged an impressive comeback with the ball.
Mitchell Starc turned the game around with a brilliant four-wicket spell, while Lungi Ngidi and Madhav also chipped in with two wickets each. Rajasthan eventually finished at 193/8, a total that proved insufficient as Delhi chased it down.
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Speaking after the defeat, Riyan Parag admitted Rajasthan failed in every department during a crucial moment in their IPL 2026 campaign. “Pretty much everything, actually. We were in a pretty good space after 14 overs. After I got out, we didn’t capitalise on that. It had to be 220-230, something like that,” Parag said after the match.
The RR skipper was equally disappointed with the team’s bowling and fielding efforts, insisting the overall execution simply was not good enough at this stage of the tournament.
“As far as the bowling is concerned, I think we just weren’t there. We weren’t up to the mark. Very poor. You’ve got to be better than what we’ve done today. Extremely disappointed,” he added.
Parag also questioned Rajasthan Royals’ recent standards, saying the side had performed far below its actual potential over the last few matches.
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“I feel we are a way better team than what we’ve played or shown in the last 4-5 games. I feel what we’ve shown today, energy-wise, skill-wise, execution-wise, is definitely not up to the mark,” Riyan Parag admitted.
The young captain further stated that if Rajasthan fail to qualify for the IPL 2026 playoffs, the responsibility will lie entirely with the team for failing to seize key moments in crunch matches.
