Rahul Dravid praises Riyan Parag for filling Sanju Samson’s footwear as interim RR captain

Rajasthan Royals (RR) have been forced to make a captaincy change. Due to a finger injury, Sanju Samson hasn’t led the team in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season yet. Therefore, Riyan Parag has been named as the interim RR captain. And unfortunately for the 23-year-old, things haven’t gone well. The 2008 champions are at the bottom of the IPL 2025 points table, losing two matches comprehensively.

But RR head coach Rahul Dravid thinks that Parag has done well. Especially considering that he has had to lead the team against last year’s finalists in the first two games.

“I think he’s adapted really well. It’s not easy to captain when the team is scoring 280 runs (against Sunrisers Hyderabad) on a flat wicket. The first game is probably a tough game to be a captain. But I think the calmness that he showed and the fact that it didn’t seem like our team was panicking was really good,” Dravid told reporters in Guwahati.

Rahul Dravid impressed with Riyan Parag

The former India head coach feels that Parag has made some good decisions, irrespective of whether they worked in RR’s favour or not. Dravid thinks the all-rounder has a good cricketing brain and is always bouncing ideas off him and Samson.

“Even in the game against KKR, his brave decision to bring himself on (with the ball), realising that the wicket was turning with two left-handers batting, to bowl the fifth over in the powerplay was a brave decision and a correct decision. So I think he’s been very impressive. As a captain, it’s nice for him to get this opportunity until Sanju is able to field again. And he’s sharing his thoughts and his ideas. Very clear. He’s very solid in that sense,” Dravid added.

Although Parag has led Assam in domestic cricket, the pressure isn’t the same as in the IPL. With thousands of people in the stands and millions watching live, keeping your nerve and not letting the outside noise get to us is tough. But Dravid is impressed with how Parag is handling things and reckons it’ll be a good learning experience for him.

“So, yeah, very impressive early days. And it’s very nice for us as, again, a team that’s looking to develop people and players. Of course, it’s unfortunate that Sanju was not able to captain and play for us. But I think in a way it’s nice that we were able to give Riyan, our vice-captain, a chance to captain in a few games and give him that exposure and experience as well,” the RR head coach concluded.