‘I don’t need to answer critics’: Riyan Parag brushes off vaping row after fiery IPL knock

Rajasthan Royals captain Riyan Parag dismissed talk of his recent vaping controversy after smashing a match-turning 90 off 50 balls in his side's seven-wicket defeat to Delhi Capitals in the IPL on May 1. The explosive innings, paired with Donovan Ferreira's unbeaten 47 off 14 balls, lifted RR to 225 for six, but DC chased it down comfortably.

Parag faced a 25 per cent match fee fine after cameras caught him vaping in the dugout earlier this season, amid a lean patch of 117 runs in nine prior innings—his best then just 29. "I don't think I need to answer any critics or anyone talking about it (vaping)," he said at the post-match presentation. "But at the end of the day, my job is to get two points. So, my score and my innings don't really matter if we lose the game."

He defended batting first on a sluggish pitch, pinning the loss on sloppy middle-overs bowling. "I think it was a good score. I thought 200 was a par score here. It was going to slow down a bit, but I think we could have bowled way better in the middle overs, not let them get away a little too much," Parag explained. An overladen with boundaries proved costly, he noted, though he stood by the toss call.

Adding to RR's woes, Parag limped off with a hamstring tweak, handing captaincy to Yashasvi Jaiswal. "Hopefully it's not too serious, but a little bit on the hamstring. Thankfully, we have about a week break, so we'll clear it out," he said. RR face the Gujarat Titans next on 9 May.

DC's dominant chase and Starc's return
Delhi Capitals ended a three-match skid thanks to openers KL Rahul (75) and Pathum Nissanka (62), who stitched a 110-run stand to pave the way. Rahul, named player of the match, said: "Some areas we needed to get sharp and crisp, really happy to get this win and really hoping to sting in some wins."

Australia's Mitchell Starc marked his season debut—his first competitive game in over three months post-shoulder injury—with 3 for 40, snaring Jaiswal in the opening over. "Nice to get the cobwebs out. Good to get some running in the legs, get some training in," Starc reflected. "In terms of ticking the boxes with the skills, I was in a position to do most of what I want to do."