Rajasthan Royals (RR) captain Riyan Parag has admitted that he is “going through a tough phase” in the opening half of IPL 2026, but that does not mean he will temper his approach for the sake of safe runs.

Parag has scored 81 runs in seven innings at an average of 13.50 and fell for 20 against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on Wednesday.

“Everyone has been very supportive,” Parag said after the game on the broadcast. “I’ve been going through a phase as well. Right before the IPL, I had gone through something, and even now I’m going through something, and everyone understands that. Everyone respects that, and I thank them for that.

“I feel the way I’m batting, [a big] innings is not too far away. But, as I’ve been saying, if I go in tomorrow and I play another game, it’s going to be what the team needs. It’s not me not scoring runs and taking my time, getting 40 off 30, that’s not going to happen. I go out there, assess conditions; if they want me to go to 200 from ball one, I do that.”

When Parag fell, RR were 62 for 4. They then slumped to 110 for 6 before Ravindra Jadeja took them to 159 with support from the lower-middle order. They won, but they were still 20 short in Parag’s opinion.

“Firstly, I feel we were really short with the bat. The way the wicket was playing when me and Hetty [Shimron Hetmyer] were batting, I think we’ve got to be better,” he said. “I thought, honestly, even with the situation we had, we were close to getting 180, and that would have been a really good score because I knew it was going to be slowing down later. But yeah, the bowlers, they did pretty well.”

Indeed they did, and the performance was put in motion by Jofra Archer and Nandre Burger, who bowled three overs each in the powerplay and had identical figures of 1 for 15. There was also the run-out of Ayush Badoni, effected by sub-fielder Ravi Singh. It made for an “impressive” display in the field.

“For two bowlers to bowl three in the powerplay at this stage of the game or how T20 cricket is evolving, I think it’s just commendable,” Parag said. “The wicket was helping a little more to the seamers in the first innings, but then the second innings we knew it would swing, but the lengths they bowled, the lines they bowled, and the way we fielded… impressive.”

In the end, RR beat LSG by 40 runs to register their fifth win in seven games and move to No. 2 on the points table. They now go back to Jaipur to host Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 25.