Riyan Parag has been in poor form in IPL 2026.
Riyan Parag has not been at his best in IPL 2026. After eight innings, he has 88 runs at an abysmal average of 12.57 and a strike rate of 112.82. His poor form has exposed the Rajasthan Royals’ vulnerable middle order in recent games.
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Riyan Parag has struggled with almost everything as a batter this season, but against pacers, he has failed to get going and lost his wicket frequently. Overall, he has 57 runs at an average of 11.40 and a strike rate of 109.62 against pace in IPL 2026. He has been dismissed as many as five times and plays around 51.92% dot balls.
A noticeable trend has been Parag’s issues with corridor lines. Against fast bowlers, he has scored at a strike rate of just 72.97 on deliveries on or just outside the off stump, while being dismissed four times in 40 balls. He has played around 39.39% false shots.
On other lines, Riyan Parag has struck at 200 and been dismissed only once this season. He has found the fence every third delivery in a small sample size of 15 deliveries. Notably, the opponents have been smart enough to exploit this weakness throughout the season rather than straying too straight or wide lines.
Around 71.52% of his pace deliveries have been on or just outside the off stump this season. Hence, the RR captain has hardly had breathing space and room to get some runs. No wonder he has yet to fire in the tournament.
Vijaykumar Vyshak has been mighty effective against RHBs this season. 5 of his six wickets have come against them at an average of 28.40. In contrast, Vyshak has only a solitary wicket for 77 runs against southpaws.
He has been expensive at times, but still found ways to be effective against right-hand batters. His lines have precisely been what troubled Riyan Parag throughout this season. He has three wickets at 33 runs apiece and an economy rate of 9.90 on off-stump or just outside against RHBs.
Additionally, Vyshak can also generate some movement with a slightly old ball, which makes him all the more threatening against Parag. If he can target the channel and try moving the ball late from there, the issues will be exacerbated for the batter. He will bat in the middle overs at No.4, and Vyshak remains PBKS’ main pacer in this phase, bowling around 50% of his total overs between overs 7 and 16.
Even in general, Riyan Parag will face a massive problem against the Punjab Kings, who mostly rely on pacers to do the job. Only Yuzvendra Chahal has been their spinner in the attack, with pacers filling the other 16 overs in an innings. Cooper Connolly has yet to bowl this season.
Hence, they all can collectively target specific lines against the batter in Mullanpur and keep the pressure going from both ends. His recent form has not been too great. PBKS have the pace attack to extend Parag’s lean patch.
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