Follow UsIn Riyan Parag’s own words, it is “tough to support someone like me, I do things differently, my collar is up, whatever it is.”
Since his IPL debut, the youngster has been constantly the talk of the town for his antics on the field, with even some commentators criticising him for overly doing it. However, none of that really affects Riyan anymore, with the youngster only worrying about how he prepares before a high-profile tournament.
“I couldn’t care what it is, to be honest. If I think I’m happy in my mind, if I have prepared well. If I’m giving myself the best shot to go out and perform, I’m happy. There are a lot of opinions on me, a lot of chat, when I play domestically, I don’t really care about that,” Riyan told IPLT20.com.
“It is true that you have an idea of what people are saying but you don’t have to let it affect you. No matter who says what, if I don’t truly believe in it, it really doesn’t matter. What I’m focusing on right now is whether I am practising hard enough, whether am I recovering well, and whether am I training hard enough. I go out there with a free mind giving my best shot,” he had to add.
Riyan walked into the 2024 IPL season on the back of some stellar show for Assam, where he scored seven half-centuries on the trot, piling up over 500 runs in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) after winning the Player of the Tournament in the Deodhar Trophy.
The 22-year-old insisted that ‘cricket’ is just a small part of the entire IPL ecosystem, stating that the tournament helps you deal with things.
“That’s the beauty of the IPL, even when I came in, I had Smudge (Smith), I had Sanju (Samson) Bhaiya, it gives you a pathway on how to deal with things. It helps you deal with cricket, cricket is just a small part. I know it is a big part, but it is still a small part. Everything that surrounds cricket is a big part,” he had to say.
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Riyan could have walked back relatively early to the hut when he mistimed a shot off Krunal Pandya’s bowling, top-edging it. But even if he had got out then, the all-rounder wouldn’t have had any qualms over his form.
“Even if I got out for a zero today, I would have been fine because I prepared myself well. I did everything right, this is just results. If it happens, it happens, and if it doesn’t, I come back tomorrow and play,” he said.
The 22-year-old stitched up a solid partnership with Rajasthan skipper Samson, with the duo putting on a 93-run partnership in just 59 deliveries. While Parag took his time, he later took on pacers, scoring a rapid 29-ball 43, that helped the Royals post a big total. But he revealed something very interesting, and that was the advice that Samson kept giving him from the other end.
“Today when I was batting with Sanju Bhaiya, I was constantly poking him, saying ek shot maar deta hoon (let me hit a shot), he said ‘No no, the wicket isn’t like that.’ Even if we were practising here, day game, the ball was stopping and keeping low. I listened to him. If I didn’t have him there, I would have tried to hit, it would have worked or it could have failed,” he added.