After his side's one-point loss against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match, Rajasthan Royals (RR) all-rounder Riyan Parag, who has had a breakout season with the franchise, admitted that he is in the competition. his best form since he couldn't finish the game and there are still many areas to improve. In response to SRH's target of 202 runs set by Travis Head and Nitish Kumar Reddy after a half-century, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Riyan almost won it for the Royals with a century partnership. But masterclass death bowling from SRH skipper Pat Cummins and Bhuvneshwar Kumar left the Pink franchise just one run short of a win.
After the match, Parag said during the post-match press conference, “I still have to improve a lot. I am not in my best form, otherwise I would have finished the match. I still have to perfect many areas. I am trying to learn from my mistakes and not to repeat them. Is this my best innings? No. That's what I would say if I get a hundred,” said Parag.
After years of underperforming, leading to many trolls on social media, Parag has been a very different batsman when playing at number four, a position he prefers to play in domestic cricket where he has a better record. In 10 matches, he scored 409 runs in nine innings at an average of 58.42 and a strike rate of 159.84, with four half-centuries. His best score is 84*.
Parag described the loss as “dramatic” and said some minor mistakes cost them the game.
“It's never good to end up on the losing side. We have done a lot of things right. We will focus on more instead of dwelling on our mistakes. We are in a good position in the points table. Just one bad game I think.” We made a few mistakes in two-three overs and that cost us the match. That's what T20, IPL is like,” said the all-rounder.
Parag said he doesn't think he and Jaiswal threw away their wickets but it was just a mistake in execution and great bowling from SRH.
“I don't think any of us have bowled his wickets. Jaiswal played that scoop because Natrajan was bowling good, slower bouncers, hence he predicted a yorker and went for it. I tried to make it six. Probably an error in the performance. We would have liked to stay until the end,” said Parag.
“Credit to how SRH bowled, how Bhuvneshwar and Cummins bowled, especially that 19th from Cummins,” he added.
Parag also praised SRH all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy for his half-century, saying some of his sixes hit against spinner Yuzvendra Chahal were “pure skill”.
When his name was considered for T20 WC by many fans on social media, Parag said that even though he is no longer on social media, he is happy that people are using his name for the right reasons. He also expressed his happiness that skipper Sanju Samson, Chahal and Jaiswal earned their call-ups for the tournament.
“It would be really great for our country. Hopefully we can take the World Cup home this time,” he concluded.
Coming to the match, SRH opted to bat first after winning the toss. After a slow start, opener Travis Head (58 in 44 balls, with six fours and three sixes) and all-rounder Nitish Reddy injected some momentum into the innings with a 96-run third-wicket partnership. Towards the end of the innings, Nitish, who made an unbeaten 76* in 42 balls, with three fours and eight sixes, received fine support from Heinrich Klaasen, who overcame a brief slump in form to make an unbeaten 42 in 19 balls. with three fours and three sixes to guide SRH to 201/3 in their 20 overs.
Avesh Khan (2/39) and Sandeep Sharma (1/31) were among the wickets for RR.
In the run-chase, RR lost two quick wickets for just one run. Youngsters Yashasvi Jaiswal (67 in 40 balls, with seven fours and two sixes) and Riyan Parag (77 in 49 balls, with eight fours and four sixes) brought RR into the match with a 133-run third-wicket partnership. Towards the end, Rovman Powell (27 in 15 balls, with three fours and a six) almost won for his side, but was trapped by two runs on the last ball. SRH secured a win in the last ball by one run.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar (3/41) was the pick of the bowlers for SRH and was awarded the 'Player of the Match' award. Skipper Pat Cummins and T Natrajan also took two wickets.
RR are at the top with eight wins and two losses, giving them 16 points. SRH are at the fourth spot, with six wins and four losses, giving them 12 points.
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