Riyan Parag talked about criticism for the first time
Riyan Parag opened up on the criticism he faced in the past couple of years as he is very much focused to repay the faith Rajasthan Royals have shown in him since he joined them in 2019. Parag has scored 643 runs for RR in 55 matches at an average of 16.92. Despite his superb show in domestic cricket, Parag has struggled to replicate the same in the cash-rich league. IPL is very tough tournament to score runs. It is biggest tournament in the world, so there are fans from all around the globe who watches the game very precisely. Rajasthan continued to put faith in Parag this season and promoted him to the number 4 spot as it worked for him in their first match of the season. The Assam batter smashed 43 runs off 29 balls which featured three sixes and a four.
Parag talked about himself
Parag talked about himself and admitted that he is a different character and doesn’t care much about others opinions. “It’s tough to support someone like me. I am a different character, I do things a different way. I couldn’t care less to be honest, if I think I am happy in my mind, if I think I’ve prepared well and giving myself the best shot to go out there and perform, I am happy. It’s tough but they’ve (RR) stood by me and hopefully I can repay them,” Parag said in a video posted by IPL on its social media accounts.
Outside chatter doesn’t affect him
Riyan further addressed all the outside chatter about him as he asserted that he didn’t let that affect himself. “There are a lot of opinions about me, a lot of chat about me. But when I play domestic cricket, I don’t listen to them. It’s true that you have a side ear to what everybody is saying but that’s good and bad. You don’t have to let that affect you. No matter who says what, If I don’t truly believe in it, I don’t think that really matters.”
Post match interview after Rajasthan Royals vs Lucknow Super Giants match
Speaking after his knock of 43 in 29 balls, with a four and three sixes, Riyan said, “The main goal was to take the game deep. The ball was keeping low, then I could go big early and Sanju (Samson) bhai could take it deep, which it did. My mindset has been simple, to play my game without thinking about anything else, which I did in the domestic circuit too. Number four does suit me, Sanga (Sangakkara) was clear. When I joined them this time, the message was clear, that I’d bat where I did domestically. That gave me the clarity I needed.”
He was in exceptional form
The 22-year-old was in terrific form in the 2023 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy where he ended up as the leading run-getter with 510 runs in 10 matches at an astonishing average of 85.00. In four matches of the Ranji Trophy 2023-24, Parag made 378 runs in six innings at an average of 75.6, with two centuries and a fifty. His best score was 155.
Kevin Varchand