IPL 2026: Rajasthan Royals could not save even 228 runs, captain Riyan Parag told the biggest reason for the defeat

Delhi: In the 36th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026, Rajasthan Royals (RR) had to face defeat by 5 wickets against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). In this match played at Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur, Hyderabad won the toss and decided to bowl first and later successfully chased the target and registered victory.

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Batting first, Rajasthan scored a big score of 228 runs losing 6 wickets in 20 overs. During this, Vaibhav Suryavanshi scored a brilliant century and took the team to a strong position.

In reply, Sunrisers Hyderabad adopted an aggressive style and achieved the target by losing 5 wickets in 18.3 overs. In the team’s victory, Abhishek Sharma played important innings of 57 runs, Ishan Kishan played 74 runs and Nitish Reddy played 36 runs.

Bad fielding became the biggest reason for the defeat

After the match, Rajasthan captain Riyan Parag blamed the defeat on the team’s weak fielding. He admitted that giving up easy catches proved to be costly for the team and due to this the match was lost.

Abhishek’s dropping the catch proved costly

Riyan Parag said that the team performed well in terms of skill, but dropping catches at important times was detrimental. He clearly said that giving life to a batsman like Abhishek can prove costly for the team.

Bowling changed the match in the last overs

He also admitted that the opposition bowled brilliantly in the last overs and stopped the run pace by bowling accurate yorkers. According to the captain, the team wanted to add 10 to 15 more runs, but it could not happen.

Also read: Vaibhav Suryavanshi became the new ‘Sixer King’ of IPL, came out ahead in terms of most sixes in an innings.

Stick to strategy, confident of comeback

Riyan Parag told that his plan was different against left-handed batsmen and he felt that he had better chances of taking wickets. However, circumstances were not in his favor. He expressed confidence that the team will return in the next match with better preparation and mental strength.