Riyan Parag shut down his critics with a match-turning 56 off just 31 balls to help Rajasthan Royals beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by 29 runs on Tuesday at the Maharashtra Association Cricket Stadium in Pune. With RR tottering at 68/4, Parag played an insides of substance, after a prolonged spell of barren run that had fans questioning the 20-year-old place in the playing XI. However, backed by the team management and skipper Sanju Samson, Parag finally delivered.
RR made 144/8 before Kuldeep Sen (4/20) inspired bowling unit restricted the star-studded RCB batting to just 115. Virat Kohli opened the innings for the first time this season but his drought of runs continued as he was dismissed for just nine off 10 balls. On the two-paced wicket, most of the batters struggled with RR’s man in form Jos Buttler too departing cheaply for eight while Devdutt Padikkal made seven. For RCB, skipper Faf du Plessis top-scored with 23 off 21 balls while Glenn Maxwell endured a first-ball duck. On Parag seemed to get the grip of the pitch as he smacked three fours and four sixes during his knock.
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“The Royals have shown faith in me for the last three years, and I am paying them back bit by bit. I love the pressure and I am just showing my abilities,” said Parag during the post-match presentation. He walked away with the Player of the Match award for his efforts and said the award came as a bit of satisfaction. Talking about the tactics after he came into bat, Parag revealed the idea was to be in the middle for as long as possible and then go after in the slog overs.
“During the time-out, Sanga came out and we agreed that 140 was a good total on this wicket. We decided to go big in the last two overs. I wanted to target Hasaranga in his second over, but we lost wickets, and so I had to strategize and go after Hazlewood and Harshal,” he added.
Lauding the youngsters’ effort, skipper Samson said,” “After the start in the first 15 overs, we had real belief and trust in someone called Riyan Parag. We have been backing him for the last three-four years and he just showed it to the world today.”
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