Riyan Parag furious after RR's loss to DC: Shouldn't be in race for IPL playoffs

Rajasthan Royals hurt their playoff chances in the Indian Premier League after losing to Delhi Capitals on Sunday, May 17. Multiple mistakes on the field cost Rajasthan the match that hung by a thread around the 16th over of the second innings.

Captain Riyan Parag lost his cool on the field after the team leaked runs through poor fielding. The RR skipper remained visibly frustrated during the post-match interview as well, slamming the side’s overall effort.

DC vs RR: HIGHLIGHTS | SCORECARD

Calling Rajasthan’s display “extremely poor”, Parag said the team did not deserve to be in contention for a top-four finish if they continued to perform like this.

“Very poor. I feel if you want to win a trophy, you have to be better than what we were today. Extremely disappointed. We are a much better team than what we have shown in the last four or five games. If we keep playing like that, we shouldn't be in contention for the top four,” Riyan Parag said.

Rajasthan Royals had started brightly on Sunday and were cruising at 160/2 after 14 overs. However, things quickly fell apart after Mitchell Starc, Lungi Ngidi, Axar Patel and Madhav Tiwari pulled things back brilliantly for Delhi Capitals.

RR then struggled badly in the final phase of the innings, collapsing dramatically after being in complete control earlier in the game.

SANGAKKARA GETS ANGRY AT RIYAN PARAG

Delhi Capitals looked comfortable in the chase as Abishek Porel and KL Rahul added 100 runs in just 10 overs. This was due to a terrible mistake in the very first over of the second innings when Yash Raj Punja dropped a sitter of KL Rahul in the covers.

However, Rajasthan fought back strongly with timely breakthroughs and stayed alive in the contest until the 16th over.

The game eventually slipped away because of poor fielding, with head coach Kumar Sangakkara visibly furious in the dugout. Parag’s decision to hand the ball to part-timer Donovan Ferreira in the 18th over also backfired badly.

Ferreira conceded 16 runs in the over against Axar Patel and the momentum decisively shifted towards Delhi.

“We were in a pretty good space after 14 overs. After I got out, we didn't capitalize. In the bowling, we weren't there. We didn't execute.

“Ferreira wasn't a gamble. On TV, it looks like a gamble, but it wasn't. With two left-handed batters in the middle, I tried to bowl him instead of Shanaka,” Parag explained after the game.

Former India cricketer Mohammed Kaif was not happy about the team's fielding efforts as well.

"It's painful to watch the fielding in this IPL. Today Yash Raj dropped KL when he was on zero. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi too misfielded. The young boy hasn't taken a catch this season. While playing for India he needs to be sharper on the field. It is the duty of coaches to teach youngsters fielding skills," Kaif vented on X.

Rajasthan still have two league matches left and can finish on a maximum of 16 points. However, qualification could come down to net run rate, where RR currently lag behind the other top-five teams with an NRR of +0.027.

They will face Lucknow Super Giants and Mumbai Indians in their final two matches of the league stage.

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