Rajasthan Royals head coach and Director of Cricket Kumar Sangakkara believes Riyan Parag is exactly the right captain to lead the inaugural champions in IPL 2026.
After a brief stint as the team’s stand-in skipper last season, Parag was named the Royals’ full-time captain for the upcoming season, replacing Sanju Samson.
On the eve of the Royals’ IPL 2026 opener against Chennai Super Kings at the ACA Stadium in Guwahati, Sangakkara revealed that the Royals undertook an extensive and structured evaluation process before settling on Parag for the all-important role.
"There were five candidates, including Sandeep Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja,” Sangakkara revealed. “We had very strict parameters as to how we are going to choose, what is the process, so we had lots of conversations with all candidates and we realised all are very capable of captaining our side.”
“Riyan came across as the top candidate because in all his conversations, he seemed to have matured a lot,” he noted.
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The Royals’ think tank didn’t just assess tactical acumen but placed significant emphasis on personality, self-awareness and long-term vision to think for the team.
"He was very reflective in answering all the questions and the questions were very tough, targeted questions. Some of those questions were quite uncomfortable for all of them.”
“Riyan, with his maturity, his vision, wanted not just to captain but to lead the team, it made him the leading candidate. We went with an open mind and gave due respect to all the players, gave all an equal chance and picked the best candidate."
Sangakkara, an accomplished captain during his playing days who led Sri Lanka to the final of the 2011 ODI World Cup, also underlined the fine distinction between captaincy and leadership.
“Both are never easy. We looked at maturity, ability to reflect on themselves not just others, we look at ability to think critically, we look at how authentic they are in terms of their answers, we look at how they can influence others around them, not just young players but players who are seniors,” he explained.
While Parag steps into one of the most high-pressure roles in the IPL, Sangakkara also made it clear that the franchise is not expecting perfection from the young skipper.
He also emphasised that Parag will never be short of guidance, with a wealth of experience and cricketing intelligence within the squad to draw upon whenever required.
“No captain or leader is perfect. I know how many mistakes I have made. But that's how you learn and Riyan is going to have a lot of support - Jadeja, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, Sandeep Sharma, Shimron Hetmyer, Jofra Archer, Dasun Shanaka. So he has got a lot of people whom he can lean on in tough times,” Sangakkara concluded.
