The Rajasthan Royals have maintained their position as strong playoff contenders throughout the opening half of the IPL 2026 season. However, despite their success on the pitch, the inaugural champions have been plagued by off field distractions. The first issue arose when team manager Romi Bhinder was seen utilizing a mobile phone within the dugout during a game. This was soon followed by a more significant scandal involving captain Riyan Parag, who was caught vaping in the dressing room during a recent encounter with the Punjab Kings in New Chandigarh.
On Thursday, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) took decisive action against Parag, penalizing him 25 percent of his match fees and issuing one demerit point.
Following this ruling, Head Coach Kumar Sangakkara released a stern statement regarding the situation. He acknowledged that these recurring controversies have been detrimental to the squad and confirmed that the franchise has taken internal steps to manage the vaping incident.
“Such controversies are no positives for the team and all I can say is that both issues have been addressed by the BCCI and the franchise,” Sangakkara stated on the eve of the Royals’ upcoming match against the Delhi Capitals. “It is a reminder to the players that they have to maintain the team’s culture.”
BCCI eyes disaster management
The official IPL communication regarding Parag further indicated that the BCCI is considering harsh penalties for the Rajasthan Royals organization and its leadership to protect the league’s standing.
The formal statement noted:
“The BCCI is also exploring other options to initiate proceedings for stringent action against the erring team, its officials and player/s to ensure that the reputation of IPL remains intact.”
This stance was corroborated by BCCI Secretary Devajit Saikia, who informed PTI, “As it is written clearly in the statement, we are exploring what action to take on the team. It is not decided yet.”
As Rajasthan prepares to face the Delhi Capitals in Jaipur on May 1, Sangakkara also defended Parag’s relatively quiet performance this season. He highlighted the captain’s vital contribution during the recent victory over the Punjab Kings.
“His little innings shifted the momentum in our way,” Sangakkara remarked. “He brought the momentum back in our favour.”
RR vs DC
Squads
Rajasthan Royals: Shubham Dubey, Shimron Hetmyer, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Riyan Parag (c), Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Donovan Ferreira, Ravindra Jadeja, Jofra Archer, Nandre Burger, Tushar Deshpande, Kwena Maphaka, Sandeep Sharma, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Ravi Bishnoi, Aman Rao Perala, Adam Milne, Kuldeep Sen, Dasun Shanaka, Sushant Mishra, Vignesh Puthur, Ravi Singh, Brijesh Sharma.
Delhi Capitals: Axar Patel (c), K.L. Rahul, Karun Nair, David Miller, Pathum Nissanka, Sahil Parakh, Prithvi Shaw, Abishek Porel, Tristan Stubbs, Sameer Rizvi, Ashutosh Sharma, Vipraj Nigam, Ajay Mandal, Tripurana Vijay, Madhav Tiwari, Auqib Dar, Nitish Rana, T. Natarajan, Mukesh Kumar, Dushmantha Chameera, Lungisani Ngidi, Kyle Jamieson, Kuldeep Yadav, Mitchell Starc.
