Sunil Gavaskar mocks Riyan Parag for dropping Phil Salt's catch after holding it: ‘Captaincy affecting his fielding?’
Sunil Gavaskar took a jibe at Riyan Parag by asking whether he was one of those rare cricketers whose fielding got affected due to the pressure of captaincy.
Apart from getting the first-ever chance to lead the Rajasthan Royals, not much has gone right for Riyan Parag in IPL 2025. The Assam all-rounder, who has once again stepped up to lead RR in regular captain Sanju Samson's absence because of an injury, started the match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru on a good note by winning the toss and opting to bowl at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru but as soon as the match began, his luck showed signs of running out.
Legendary cricketer Sunil Gavaskar mocked Parag for dropping the catch of RCB opener Phil Salt in the second over of the match. In his first over of the match, RR pacer Fazhalhaq Farooqi attempted a yorker. Salt turned it into a low full toss with a forward press and wanted to get it past the mid-off fielder, but didn't manage to get the elevation.
Parag, standing at mid-off, took a quick couple of steps and dived forward to catch the ball but as he took a tumble, the ball popped out. Generally, a safe fielder, Parag, was quite understandably disappointed by the result. Salt was batting on 1 at that moment.
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Gavaskar, who was in the commentary box then, took a jibe at Parag by asking whether he was one of those rare cricketers whose fielding got affected due to the pressure of captaincy.
"Riyan Parag is not having the best of seasons. Is the captaincy affecting his fielding? We've seen captaincy affect batting and blowing but in his case, it is also fielding," said Gavaskar.
Parag, who led RR in the first three matches of the season because Samson was playing only as an Impact Player due to injury, is once again leading RR as Samson suffered a fresh injury against the Delhi Capitals that ruled him out of the next two fixtures. Parag, who has managed 212 runs in eight matches this year, said they are not sure about Samson's return date but he is recovering well in Jaipur.
RCB, meanwhile, made full use of the early reprieve. Salt and Virat Kohli brushed aside the poor run at the Chinnaswamy Stadium by putting a half-century stand. At the end of the powerplay, RCB were 59 for no loss with Salt batting on 25 off 20 balls and Kohli going steadily at 27 off 16 balls.
Wanindu Hasranag broke the RCB opening partnership immediately after the powerplay. He dismissed Salt for 26.
After losing two close games to DC and LSG, RR are desperate for a win to stay alive in the race to the playoffs.
