Rajasthan Royals captain Riyan Parag (AP Photo)

Riyan Parag after this there was no turning back Rajasthan RoyalsA five-wicket defeat against Delhi Capitals in a crucial IPL 2026 encounter at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, openly admitting that his team let the game slip away from a winnable position. RR were firmly in control at 160 for 2 in 14 overs, and looked set for a score of 220-230, but a dramatic collapse began Mitchell StarcWith the help of four wickets, their score became 193 runs for 8 wickets. After this, Delhi Capitals achieved the target in just 19.2 overs. Parag, who led the way and scored 51 runs, described the middle and death overs as the turning point. “Actually, almost everything. We were in a pretty good position after 14 overs. After I got out, we just couldn’t take advantage of it. It had to be 220-230, something like that,” he said. He also defended his tactical call of bringing Donovan Ferreira into the attack during the middle overs, a move that did not yield results. “Ferreira was not a gamble. I know it looks like a gamble on TV, but then you have two left-handers. I would rather bowl Donovan than have Shanaka bowl another over, take a chance. It didn’t really work out.” Parag was equally critical of RR’s overall performance, especially in the field. “Too bad. I think if you want to win trophies, if you want to be competitive every year, you have to be better than what we did today. Extremely disappointed.” He also pointed to a worrying drop in standards compared to recent games. “I think we are a much better team than what we have played or shown in the last 4-5 games. But today… energy-wise, skill-wise, execution-wise, it was definitely not up to the mark. And if we keep playing like this, we should not be in the race for the top 4.” With RR still in the race for the playoffs but under pressure, Parag made it clear that there can be no reliance on other results. “I don’t like leading like this… We had the opportunity, we didn’t take it. So if we don’t deserve, it’s our fault. Not anyone else’s.” First, KL Rahul (56), Abhishek Porel (51), Akshar Patel (34*) and Ashutosh Sharma gave DC the win after Starc’s match-turning magic broke RR’s strong start.