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Nitish Rana delivered a verdict on Riyan Parag's captaincy and traced down the turning point for Rajasthan Royals against Chennai Super Kings during the pulsating clash in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025.
After two defeats on the trot, Parag got hands on his first win as Rajasthan skipper after the Royals edged out the Super Kings to secure a slender 6-run victory on Sunday. Parag's leadership was on the radar after Rajasthan's bowling unit paid through the nose and their batters tilted at windmills, leading to a disjointed set of performances on the field. However, it was a collective performance when all departments were in sync and sang in harmony, which brought an end to Rajasthan's losing streak. When asked about the 23-year-old as a captain, Nitish doesn't believe in the notion of judging a player's ability to captain a side based on results. For Nitish, Riyal is a calm figure as a captain. "I think captaincy is result-oriented. If you win you are considered a good captain but I don't believe so. Riyan is calm as a captain," Nitish said in the post-match press conference. In a game where momentum swung like a pendulum, there were moments of brilliance from individuals that swayed the flow of the gripping affair. Nitish's explosive 81 from 36 deliveries powered the Royals to a competitive 182/9. But the southpaw chose Riyan's one-handed stunner to remove Shivam Dube as the turning point ahead of his fiery blitzkrieg. "Riyan's catch was the important turning point of the game," Nitish said when asked about the game-changing moment of the clash. Despite putting a challenging total on the board, Nitish felt 200 was the desired score. But tearaway Jofra Archer's scorching spell left Chennai threadbare in the powerplay and paved the way for Rajasthan's first win in the 18th edition of the cash-rich league. "I thought we were 15 to 20 runs short. But a 180-run total was ideal on this surface. Credit goes to Jofra Archer for his remarkable spell in the powerplay," he said. (ANI)
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