Riyan Parag, who recently led the Rajasthan Royals to the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 playoffs, has been ruled out of the upcoming 50-over tri-series in Sri Lanka. The batting all-rounder won't get fit in time to travel with the India A team and has been replaced by Ruturaj Gaikwad in the squad. The official announcement was made by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Sunday evening.

The board also confirmed that Parag has been ruled out of the upcoming tri-series featuring India A, Sri Lanka A, and Afghanistan A due to a hamstring injury. The Rajasthan Royals' captain's rehabilitation will be managed by the BCCI Centre of Excellence (CoE). Speaking of Parag, he carried the injury into the playoffs but chose to play through pain for his franchise. The Royals defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Eliminator but lost to the Gujarat Titans in Qualifier 2 in Mullanpur.

Earlier, Parag was named the vice-captain of India A for the tri-series, but since he has been ruled out, Tilak Varma's deputy for the series will be Ruturaj Gaikwad, who led the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the IPL 2026 season. The tri-series is slated to begin on June 9 with the opener between India A and Sri Lanka A in Dambulla. After the tri-series, India A is also set to play two Tests against Sri Lanka A, but the squad for the red-ball leg hasn't been announced yet.

How did Parag perform in IPL 2026?
Parag might have led Rajasthan Royals to the playoffs, but his own performance with the bat was below par. The right-handed batter returned with just 309 runs in 14 matches, including one fifty. With the ball, he scalped two wickets. The likes of Tilak Varma, Priyansh Arya, Ayush Badoni, Prabhsimran Singh, and Anukul Roy have all been named in the India A squad, but the biggest talking point would be the inclusion of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who had a breakthrough season with the bat for the Royals.

Sooryavanshi, the 15-year-old, smashed 776 runs in 16 matches for the Royals in the IPL 2026 season. He registered back-to-back 90+ scores in the Eliminator and Qualifier 2. However, his 96-run knock against the Gujarat Titans didn't prove to be enough.