Former Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin slammed Riyan Parag’s performances after Rajasthan Royals suffered a four-wicket loss against Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, on Sunday.

Ashwin said Parag is not an inexperienced player anymore, and he must come up with more consistency. Parag, who hasn’t been in the best of form, was dismissed after scoring 12 runs off 14 balls.

The RR skipper played across the line against Varun Chakravarthy but was clean-bowled. The right-hander from Assam has managed 61 runs in six matches of IPL 2026 at an average of 12.20 and a strike rate of 122. Thus, he has failed to lead from the front this season.

RR were 117-3 when Parag attempted a huge heave on the leg side and it was not the right shot at that time.

Ravichandran Ashwin said on his YouTube Channel, “Also on the batting front, Riyan is not an inexperienced player anymore. He is inexperienced as a captain but not as a batter. So he has to step up as a batter. RR will look different if he steps up.”

Ashwin urged Parag not to take lesser bowling options just because of matchups.

“Ravindra Jadeja has bowled 3 overs for 9 with two wickets. If Burger caught Rinku Singh’s catch, Jadeja would have stolen the Player of the Match from Varun Chakaravarthy. But because there were two left-handers after the 13th over, you come in and bowl. Don’t take lesser bowling options just because of matchups,” said Ashwin (via the aforementioned source).

“Rinku Singh couldn’t lay bat on ball. He was literally showing the Eden Gardens crowd his outside and inside edges with not a single boundary. Riyan Parag came into bowl, and he got his first boundary and never looked back.”

Rinku Singh went on to score a match-winning knock of 53 runs off 34 balls in the run chase of 160.