Riyan Parag, Sanju’s not-so-popular successor, takes Rajasthan Royals to top of IPL 2026

Sanju Samson might be struggling to settle in at his new franchise, Chennai Super Kings, but his former employers, the Rajasthan Royals, have made a smooth transition.

Sanju's successor, Riyan Parag, has led the Royals to consecutive wins, while Sanju and CSK are yet to impress in IPL 2026, with consecutive defeats. Sanju made six and seven runs in the first two matches for CSK.

On Saturday, Parag's Royals clinched a thrilling 6-run win over the Gujarat Titans. They began the season with a convincing 8-wicket win over CSK. After two rounds, the Royals find themselves top of the IPL points table.

Jofra Archer said post-match that skipper Parag had a change of mind with his choice of bowler for the last two overs, with the Titans needing 15 to win from 12 balls. He threw the ball to Archer for the penultimate over, and the Englishman kept it tight, giving away just four runs.

Tushar Deshpande bowled a brilliant final over, with a couple of yorkers, and the wicket of Rashid Khan, to give the Royals a six-run win. The 24-year-old Parag had stood for Sanju when the Kerala star was not fully fit last season. However, eye brows were raised when Parag got the full-time captaincy at the start of the season.

The Royals had posted a fighting 210/6, with Dhruv Jurel (75 off 42) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (55 off 36) doing the heavy lifting. Teenage batting sensation Vaibhav Suryavanshi smashed an 18-ball 31.

Sai Sudharsan and Kumar Kushagra fired the Titans to 78 in 7.5 overs before the latter fell. Sudharsan made 73 off 44, but the Royals bounced back with substitute Ravi Bishnoi proving to be the pick of the bowlers with 4/41.

Kagiso Rabada and Rashid Khan stitched up a 43-run stand for the eighth wicket to give the Titans a fighting chance before Parag's smart bowling choices turned the game in the Royals' favour.