IPL 2026 | 'My message to him would be to not do a lot of press conferences...': Riyan Parag on Sooryavanshi

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Riyan Parag (Pic: File Pic)

The upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is all set to kick off from March 28. So far, the schedule of only first 20 matches has been released due to state elections.

Ahead of the league, Rajasthan Royals' (RR) captain Riyan Parag wants youngster Vaibhav Sooryavanshi to stay away from the press conferences and just focus on enjoying his game.

"As a captain my message to him would be to not do a lot of press conferences or follow a lot of media. Let him just enjoy, which I will request you (media) as well. Do not reach out to his manager or anyone; just let him be. He's a 15-16 (14) year-old kid, let him play cricket. He's playing really well and he's going to make the country proud," he said during the pre-tournament press conference.

Further speaking, the skipper also stated that Sooryavanshi will be given the freedom to go all guns blazing from the beginning.

"Of course he will have some pressure coming his way but I am going to tell him that whatever pressure is going to be there, (Yashasvi) Jaiswal will handle it as he is good enough to handle that role. My only message for Vaibhav is to go out and play. If the first ball is meant to be hit, hit it. There's no issue in that," said Parag.

"I don't think any young player has done what he has over the last one year. He is scoring runs everywhere," he added.

RR will begin their IPL 2026 campaign by playing a match against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on March 30 at the Assam Cricket Association Stadium in Guwahati.

IPL 2026, Chennai Super Kings vs Rajasthan Royals: Full Squads

Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad (C), MS Dhoni (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Dewald Brevis, Ayush Mhatre, Kartik Sharma, Sarfaraz Khan, Urvil Patel, Anshul Kamboj, Jamie Overton, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Prashant Veer, Matthew Short, Aman Khan, Zak Foulkes, Shivam Dube, Khaleel Ahmed, Noor Ahmad, Mukesh Choudhary, Nathan Ellis, Shreyas Gopal, Gurjapneet Singh, Akeal Hosein, Matt Henry, Rahul Chahar.

Rajasthan Royals: Ravindra Jadeja, Sandeep Sharma, Adam Milne, Donovan Ferreira (WK), Jofra Archer, Shimron Hetmyer, Tushar Deshpande, Sam Curran, Nandre Burger, Riyan Parag (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Kuldeep Sen, Ravi Bishnoi, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Sushant Mishra, Yudhvir Singh, Shubham Dubey, Vignesh Puthur, Aman Rao, Kwena Maphaka, Yash Punja, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Ravi Singh (WK), Brijesh Sharma.

(With PTI Inputs)