According to Nitish Rana, he had no problem with the Rajasthan Royals (RR) using Riyan Parag as their stand-in captain for the first three Indian Premier League (IPL 2025) games.
Since primary captain Sanju Samson lacked the medical clearance to field or take wickets during the games, the Assam all-rounder was named the team’s stand-in captain. The first champions under Parag’s tutelage lost the first two games before winning the third. Nitish gave Parag his maiden IPL victory as captain with a brilliant innings against the Chennai Super Kings, hitting 81 off 36 balls.
Another candidate for the position of stand-in captain was Nitish, who was signed by the team at the IPL 2025 mega-auction for INR 4.20 crore. In the absence of Shreyas Iyer, he captained his previous team, the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), in the 2023 Indian Premier League. Nonetheless, the RR administration approved of Parag.
Nitish Rana supports Riyan Parag as captain, pointing to the team’s familiarity.
This was the right choice, according to Nitish Rana. He clarified that before to being named captain, he had played for the KKR squad for a number of seasons. According to the southpaw, he now understood the team environment better. Parag also had an edge because he had been with the Royals since the 2019 Indian Premier League.
“I had been with KKR for six or seven years when I was named captain. That was really beneficial because I was aware of the climate and culture of the team. With RR, I believe Riyan is more familiar with the team’s structure than I am. And I firmly believe that the management made the right choice,” India Today cited Nitish as saying.
However, the seasoned batter from Uttar Pradesh said that if the position had been offered to him, he would have embraced it.
Naturally, I would have gladly accepted the captaincy if they had asked. What’s best for the team, however, is what counts most. “And I believe they made the right decision,” he continued.
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