A tally of 81 in seven outings can put anyone’s spot in the side in jeopardy, even if he’s the captain. One can safely assume, however, that Riyan Parag‘s position at Rajasthan Royals isn’t under immediate threat. It should be. Royals have leaned heavily on their top three — the explosive opening pair of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, followed by Dhruv Jurel — and as long as they fired, the poor returns lower down were glossed over. But when the top order fails, someone has to step up. Parag has been distinctly unable to do that. He has been in the middle neither for a long time nor a good time. And he often has a problem against decent bowling. His dismissal against Lucknow Super Giants on Wednesday made it worse. The top three were back in the dugout with 32 on the board. A partnership with Shimron Hetmyer was the need of the hour. Parag reached 20 at barely a run a ball, then slog-swept a full delivery from Prince Yadav straight to a fielder well inside the long-on rope. Poor form and poor match awareness, in one shot. It has been a pattern. Against Kolkata Knight Riders, he was bowled neck and crop by a Varun Chakravarthy googly when the team needed him most. Before that, he edged an expansive drive to slip after Praful Hinge had torn through the top order in the first over. When the match has been in the balance, the captain has repeatedly failed to tip it. Also Read | ‘There will be hype & pressure’: Rajasthan Royals captain looks to keep Vaibhav Sooryavanshi away from spotlight When Royals won their first four games, Parag’s captaincy was widely praised — tactical nous, man-management, the works. But he is no Mike Brearley, who could justify his place on captaincy alone. Brearley at least had the gift of making better players perform above themselves. Parag needs to be one of those better players, and at the moment he isn’t. He is 24, has played T20Is and an ODI for India, and has spent his entire IPL career — over 90 games across eight seasons — at one franchise, which now has him leading it. That the captaincy went to him rather than another may prompt raised eyebrows, though that is a question for the franchise’s think tank. What complicates matters further is that dropping a captain mid-season is never straightforward — it unsettles strategies built around him and sends a signal the dressing room cannot unhear. Royals will be reluctant. But a captain contributing neither with bat nor ball — his occasional overs have yielded little — becomes a selection problem that reluctance alone cannot solve. His average across those 90-odd games sits below 25. The patience of a franchise is not infinite, even for one of their own.
QUICK COMMENT: Riyan Parag has 81 runs in seven games. How long can Rajasthan Royals look the other way?
