Rajasthan Royals (RR) will announce their captain for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 season tomorrow (February 13). After trading their most-capped skipper, Sanju Samson, to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran, RR have to appoint a new leader.
Who’ll be Rajasthan Royals’ new captain?
RR has three options: Riyan Parag, Yashasvi Jaiswal, or Jadeja. Parag was leading Rajasthan in IPL 2025 when Samson was unavailable. He’s been with the franchise since 2018 and was earmarked as a potential skipper from early on. Parag also leads Assam in domestic cricket.
Jadeja, who was brought via trade, could have leadership aspirations. It can’t be confirmed, but reports had suggested that captaincy was one of the talking points between RR and Jadeja before CSK released him. The all-rounder has captaincy experience in IPL, albeit not being a memorable one.
Then we come to Jaiswal. Last year, the opener wanted to switch states, from Mumbai to Goa, in order to captain in domestic cricket. He took a U-turn on that, but it clearly shows that Jaiswal has captaincy aspirations. He’s the youngest of the three options and easily their best batter. But will RR go for him, considering he has nothing to back his case?
List of Rajasthan Royals captains in IPL
| Captain | Matches | Won | Lost | Tied | No Result | Win% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shane Warne | 56 | 31 | 24 | 1 | 0 | 55.35 |
| Shane Watson | 21 | 7 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 33.33 |
| Rahul Dravid | 40 | 23 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 57.50 |
| Steve Smith | 27 | 15 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 55.55 |
| Ajinkya Rahane | 24 | 9 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 37.50 |
| Sanju Samson | 67 | 33 | 32 | 0 | 1 | 49.25 |
| Riyan Parag | 8 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 25.00 |
