Sunil Gavaskar TROLLS Riyan Parag for dropping Phil Salt’s catch after holding it, says ‘captaincy affecting his…’

New Delhi: Riyan Parag’s captaincy debut for the Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2025 has been largely unsuccessful despite a promising start. While he won the toss and elected to bowl against Royal Challengers Bangalore, his team’s fortunes quickly turned. This follows a pattern of challenges for Parag, who is filling in for the injured Sanju Samson.

Sunil Gavaskar criticized Rajasthan Royals’ Parag for missing a catch early in the match against Royal Challengers Bangalore. The dropped catch involved RCB opener Phil Salt, who mistimed a shot off a Fazhalhaq Farooqi delivery.

Mid-off fielder Parag attempted a diving catch, but the ball slipped from his grasp after he fell. This was unusual for the usually reliable Parag, who was visibly disappointed, especially as the batsman, Salt, was only on one run at the time.

During his commentary, Sunil Gavaskar playfully teased Parag, questioning if the pressures of captaincy had negatively impacted his fielding abilities.

“Riyan Parag is not having the best of seasons. Is the captaincy affecting his fielding? We’ve seen captaincy affect batting and blowing but in his case, it is also fielding,” said Gavaskar.

With Sanju Samson sidelined by injury for the next two matches, after a fresh injury sustained against Delhi Capitals, RR captaincy has reverted to Yashasvi Jaiswal. Jaiswal previously captained the team in the first three games of the season while Samson recovered from a previous injury. Jaiswal, who has scored 212 runs in eight matches this season, reported that Samson’s return date is uncertain, but his recovery in Jaipur is progressing well.

Taking advantage of an early opportunity, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) saw Salt and Kohli overcome recent poor form at the Chinnaswamy Stadium with a successful partnership exceeding 50 runs. By the end of the powerplay, RCB had a strong start, scoring 59 runs without losing a wicket. Salt had a quick 25 runs from 20 balls, while Kohli played a steadier innings of 27 runs from 16 balls.

Wanindu Hasaranga quickly ended Royal Challengers Bangalore’s opening partnership soon after the powerplay, dismissing Salt for 26 runs.

Rajasthan Royals (RR), following narrow defeats against Delhi Capitals (DC) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), urgently need a victory to maintain their playoff hopes.

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