New Delhi: Rajasthan Royals The captain Ryan Prague And Sanju Samson Share a strong bond from your time together in the franchise. Parag has often spoken about how much he learned from Samson during his stint with the Royals before his stint with the Chennai Super Kings last year. During the IPL 2026 toss between Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad, Prag made a special mention of his former captain.After winning the toss and deciding to bowl, Prag said: “We’ll bowl first. A new wicket for us, used for the first time this season as well. So hopefully it’s a bit sticky at the start. We’ve chased a lot of totals here. We fell short in 2024, so hopefully that won’t happen this time. We have two changes. Brijesh exits, and Tushar Deshpande enters. Hattie rests, and Praetorius makes his debut.“Reflecting on his journey to the captaincy, he added: “It’s been a journey. I was under (Sanju Samson) Bhaiya for a long time, and then Sanga (Kumar Sangakkara, head coach and director of cricket) did a great job of improving me with all the decisions and involving me in all the strategic and tactical meetings. It’s a pleasure to be here.”Parag was appointed as the captain of Rajasthan Royals ahead of IPL 2026 after Samson was traded to Chennai Super Kings.Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Ishan Kishan also confirmed two changes in his team.“We’ve got two changes from the last game, (Parful) coming in possession (and veteran Jaydev Anadkat missing out, Harshal Patel among the impressive players),” Ishan said.Talking about leadership, he added: “I think I’ve been doing it for a long time. I was a leader in the India Under-19s, I’m doing it for my state team, and I think it makes you more situational, more focused on the game. You want to do more for your team because it’s never about individual performance; it’s always about teamwork. That’s why we’ve done it, and I think it makes people It makes a big difference when you’re the captain of the team, and you’re doing well. It shows a lot of maturity, that a player has a certain amount of development now. So in the last few years it has helped me a bit when I have been the leader of my side and done well for the team. It made me come back to India. So what more could you ask for?”Rajasthan Royals (Playing XI): Yashvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jorrell (W), Ryan Parag (C), Luan Dr Pretorius, Donovan Ferreira, Ravindra Jadeja, Jofra Archer, Nandre Burger, Sandeep Sharma, Ravi Bishnoi, Tushar Deshpande.Rajasthan Royals Impact Subs: Vibhu Suryavanshi, Shimron Hetmire, Ravi Singh, Shubham Dubey, Brijesh SharmaSunrisers Hyderabad (Playing XI): Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan (W/C), Henrik Klaasen, Salil Arora, Aniket Verma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harsh Dubey, Shivang Kumar, Praful Hinge, Ishan Malanga.SRH Impact Subs: Simran Ravichandran, Sakib Hussain, Liam Livingstone, Shivam Mavi, Harshal Patel.
