‘Riyan Parag is not established yet’: Chopra speaks out on RR’s ‘inexperienced’ IPL squad

former indian batsman Akash Chopra Potential concerns flagged rajasthan royals (RR) Ahead of IPL 2026, pointing out that their young and relatively inexperienced batting team is a key challenge. Royals make big decision via trade ahead of auction Sanzhou Samson arrive chennai super kings (CSK), bringing in Sam Curran and Ravindra Jadeja Return. Royals also traded Nitish Rana to Delhi Capitals and acquired Donovan Ferreira through the deal.

Young batting core in the spotlight In a video on his YouTube channel ‘Aakash Chopra’, he pointed out that RR’s batting core mainly consists of young players e.g. Yashasvi JaiswalVaibhav Sooryavanshi and Dhruv Jurel. “You can call it a weakness or a challenge. The batting line-up is very young. Yashasvi Jaiswal is experienced but he is still young. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is batting a lot but he is a young kid. Dhruv Jurel has huge potential but he is yet to be proven in the IPL as he has not scored there yet,” he said. Experience gap a growing concern Chopra also pointed out that although Ryanparag Although he has shown promise, he has yet to establish himself on the international stage. he added Himron Heitmeyer‘s role may be affected as RR may not be able to use him in his preferred batting position. Notably, Parag will captain Royals in the 2026 IPL season. “Ryan Parag showed a lot of promise and potential but he is not a full-fledged international star. Simron Hetmyer is definitely there but the number of times he has batted for West Indies is impossible to tell. No matter what you do, you can’t match him there. Donovan Ferreira has limited international experience,” he explained. Summarizing the batting issues, Chopra stressed that while there is a lot of promise, the lack of international exposure in the top flight could prove tricky. “When I look at the top six, I see a lot of potential but very, very limited international experience, other than Simron Heitmeier, who they can’t put the numbers on to succeed. So that’s a challenge,” Chopra observed. Notably, Hetmyer was one of West Indies’ standout performers at the 2026 T20 World Cup, scoring 248 runs in 7 innings at a strike rate of 186.46 while batting at No. 3 – a role he is unlikely to reprise in RR. Spin attack faces form concerns Chopra also pointed out spin bowling as another area of ​​concern, citing the recent performances of key players. “Spin bowling stocks have definitely gone up but the current form is a hiccup which is a bit concerning. This may not be a problem, but I see it as a challenge. Ravi Bishnoi’s last year was very cold. That’s why he was released. It’s a good addition but it hasn’t been performing well lately,” he said. He further added that despite Jadeja’s noble birth, he has not been at his best in terms of wicket-taking in T20 matches over the past few seasons. “Ravindra Jadeja, again, is a good addition but from a wicket-taking perspective, he is not in good form in T20 cricket at the moment and if you look at the bowling he has bowled for CSK in the last two years. So you definitely have two good spinners but their current form is not their friend. You can look at it as a challenge,” Chopra commented. Bishnoi managed 9 wickets in 11 innings during IPL 2025 with a conceding rate of 10.83. Jadeja, meanwhile, took 10 wickets in 14 games and had an economy rate of 8.56 last season.