Riyan Parag, the young batting all-rounder, has often faced scrutiny during his Indian Premier League (IPL) career with Rajasthan Royals (RR).
However, in RR’s IPL 2024 opener against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), Parag silenced some doubters with a blazing knock after being promoted to bat at No.4.
In a post-match interview, Parag revealed that he was constantly trying to persuade captain Sanju Samson to allow him to go for some big shots during their 93-run partnership. But Samson kept him in check, urging him to cautiously play due to the challenging pitch conditions
“Today when batting with Sanju bhaiya, I had developed a few shots and I was constantly trying to poke him by asking ‘Sanju bhaiya, let me hit one’ and he was like ‘No, no, today’s wicket isn’t that easy’. Even though we have been practicing here, today was a little tougher, day game, ball keeping low so he was like ‘no, no, not right now,'” Parag said.
Riyan Parag opens on dealing with criticism
I will be fine because I did everything right: Riyan Parag
Parag admitted that without Samson’s guidance, he may have played risky shots. “If I didn’t have him there, I would have tried to play that shot, it may or may not have come off, but then that element of risk goes down and you prolong your innings and get your team to a better score,” he added.
The 22-year-old acknowledged nearly getting out the first ball against Krunal Pandya. ” Even if I had got out the first ball as I was very close to against Krunal, I will be fine because I did everything right, and now this is just results. If it happens, it happens, if it doesn’t I come back again tomorrow,” Parag concluded.
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Parag’s 43 off 29, which included one boundary and three sixes, and Samson’s brilliant 82* off 52 helped RR post 193/4. Despite KL Rahul’s 58 and Nicholas Pooran’s 64, LSG fell 20 runs short in the chase.