Rajasthan Royals captain Riyan Parag Expressed deep disappointment after his team suffered a heart-breaking defeat Delhi Capitals in match 62 ipl 2026 At Arun Jaitley Stadium on Sunday. The defeat dealt a blow to Rajasthan’s playoff hopes, while Delhi remained in the race to reach the top four.
RR looked to be in control for large parts of the contest, especially during the first innings, but failed to deliver strongly with the bat and struggled badly later on, both with the ball and in the field. After the match, Parag admitted that his team lagged in almost every department and said that the performance was not at all good for a team aiming to qualify for the playoffs.
Rajasthan Royals fail to capitalize after strong start
On being invited to bat first, Rajasthan Royals made a great start thanks to the young opener. Vaibhav SuryavanshiWho played a quick inning of 46 runs and put Delhi bowlers under pressure in the beginning. The momentum continued with impressive half-centuries in the middle overs Dhruv Jurel And the pollen itself.
Jurel played a composed inning of 53 runs, while Parag added 51 runs and looked set to take RR towards a huge total. At one time it seemed that Rajasthan would easily cross the mark of 220 runs. However, things changed dramatically in the death overs as the veteran Australian pacer Mitchell Starc Changed the game with a sensational spell.
Starc took four wickets and started the collapse which prevented RR from fully capitalizing on their strong platform. Rajasthan eventually finished with 193/8, with Parag later admitting that the total was well below expectations.
Speaking during the post-match presentation, the RR captain said that his team was in a very good position after 14 overs but failed to make the most of it after his dismissal. According to Parag, Rajasthan should have finished with a score between 220 and 230.
“We were in a pretty good position after 14 overs. After I got out, we couldn’t take advantage of it. It was… it had to be 220-230, something like that,” Parag said.
Delhi Capitals dominated the chase with confident batting
Chasing 194 runs, Delhi Capitals made an aggressive start and never allowed Rajasthan to settle into the contest. Abhishek Porel And KL Rahul Made a brilliant partnership of 105 runs for the first wicket, which laid the foundation for a successful chase. Porel played a brilliant inning of 51 runs, while Rahul played an inning of 56 runs. RR bowlers jofra archer And Brijesh Sharma Managed to create some pressure in the middle overs, but Delhi remained calm in the final stages.
the final blow came from here Ashutosh SharmaWho played a brilliant inning of 18 unbeaten runs in just five balls. He sealed the match brilliantly by hitting a sky-scraping six in the final over as DC reached 197/5 with four balls remaining.
Also read: Fans rejoice as Mitchell Starc and KL Rahul lead DC to an emphatic win over RR in IPL 2026
Riyan Parag reveals the reasons for RR’s defeat
Parag does not shy away from criticizing his team’s overall performance. The RR captain admitted that the bowling unit was “relatively not” and also defended the tactical decision to use Donovan Ferreira Against two left-handed batsmen during the chase.
“And as far as bowling is concerned, I think we weren’t there. We weren’t up to the mark. Ferreira was not a gamble. I know it looks like a gamble on TV, but then you’ve got two left-handers. I’d rather bowl Donovan than have Shanaka bowl another over, take a chance. Didn’t really work out.” Explained Parag.
However, it was Rajasthan’s fielding that disappointed him the most. Parag described the fielding performance as “very poor” and stressed that championship-winning teams cannot afford such poor performances in important games.
“Too bad. I think if you want to win a trophy, if you want to be competitive every year, you have to be better than we did today,” Added the RR captain.
He further said that Rajasthan Royals have failed to play up to their potential in the last few matches and said that if the team ultimately misses out on making the playoffs, it has itself to blame. Parag also made it clear that he does not want RR to depend on the results of other teams for survival in the tournament.
“If we keep playing like this, we shouldn’t be in the race for the top 4. I don’t like leading like this. I don’t like talking to my team like this either. Oh, we need to keep beating these guys so we can win two games. We had the opportunity, we didn’t take it. So if we don’t qualify, it’s our fault. Not anyone else’s,” Parag signed.
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