Rajasthan Royals have had an indifferent season so far in IPL 2025. They’ve had two captains this season as well with Samson playing as an impact player in the first three matches. In his absence, surprisingly, the Royals preferred Riyan Parag to lead the team ahead of Nitish Rana.
The cricketing fraternity was shocked to some extent when the Rajasthan Royals appointed Riyan Parag as a stand-in captain for the first three matches in IPL 2025. Sanju Samson was set to play as an impact player due to a finger injury, and despite having players like Yashasvi Jaiswal and Nitish Rana in the team, the franchise went ahead with Parag.
While Jaiswal is a more established cricketer at the highest level now, Rana led the Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2023 when Shreyas Iyer missed out due to injury. The latter has now opened up on the captaincy decision taken by the Royals, revealing the reason why Parag was made the leader of the pack in Samson’s absence. However, he also made a point that if he was asked to lead, he would’ve grabbed the opportunity with both hands.
“When I was made captain of KKR, I had been with the team for 6-7 years. That helped a lot because I understood the team culture and environment. Now, with RR, I think Riyan knows the team’s setup better than me. And I think it was absolutely the right decision by the management.
“If they had asked me, of course, I would’ve happily accepted the captaincy. But what matters most is what’s right for the team. And I think they made the correct call,” Rana said ahead of the clash against Delhi Capitals.
Moreover, Nitish Rana also opined on batting at different positions in the ongoing IPL season. His best knock this season came against the Chennai Super Kings, scoring 81 runs off 36 balls while batting at number three. But the southpaw has been shifted way too much in the order since then.
“Things are very different on the ground. Sometimes the match situation demands something else. Often, a left-right combination becomes very important in a format like the IPL. In a couple of matches, I didn’t get much chance to bat. Whatever the team demands from me, I try my best to fulfill that. Earlier, I batted lower down the order. Then in the third match, they asked me if I would bat at number three. I said yes, and I scored around 80 or so. So I just try to deliver what the team expects of me. And I’m always okay with that,” Rana added.