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Cricket PlayersI told coach 'don't worry I'll win you the match': Riyan Parag fulfils promise, credits Virat Kohli for guidance
After taking East Zone to the final of the Deodhar Trophy, Riyan Parag talked about how he idolises Virat Kohli.
East Zone successfully overcame West Zone by 157 runs in Pondicherry on Tuesday in what was essentially a win-or-go-home virtual semifinal match in the Deodhar Trophy. Riding on the back of Riyan Parag's 102*(68), East Zone set up a final against the dominant South Zone in the competition. Parag delivered in a tense and important situation when his team required his bat to come alive.
Speaking to BCCI TV after the match, Parag covered what has helped him perform better in recent matches.“Last night my coach kept telling me, match jitana hai, match jitana hai (you have to win us the match.) I told him not to worry, that I am feeling well and that I’ll win the match for us tomorrow.” Parag also spoke about how playing with self-assuredness and confidence was key to his upturn in form.
Coming in at No.6 when his team was in a spot of bother at 143/4, Parag was attacking and effective, scoring six boundaries and five maximums to push his team beyond 300. In response, a West Zone team which could only send out captain Priyank Panchal at 11, folded cheaply, with Manisankar Murasingh taking a five-wicket haul.
Speaking about how he’s changed to become a better batter, Parag said “I am a lot [more] mature now. I think two years back I might have hit some silly shot off the spinners because that’s my forte, I like hitting six off the spinners. I would have tried to force something and gotten out. I think now I’m more mature, I assess conditions really well, and today was a prime example of that. I took my time, ran a lot of singles, ran a lot of doubles, and gave myself to go like hell in the last 10 overs.”
This was Parag’s second century of the tournament, having also scored a big 131(102) against North Zone. In the 5 group matches, East Zone won 4 out of 5 games, losing only to South Zone who finished with a perfect record.
‘Don’t look up to any batter other than Virat Kohli': Riyan Parag
Speaking about batters he tries to learn from and take inspiration from, Parag spoke about Virat Kohli. “It’s always been Virat Kohli. I don’t look up to any other batsman, although there are great batsmen in our generation. But I just relate a lot to Virat Kohli, and I’ve spoken to him, I speak with him often. He’s just got a lot of input that I actually like.”
“I can relate to that person,” continued Parag. “I like it when he says something, I really understand it, and he makes me understand it as well.”
Parag also commented on how beneficial sharing a dressing room with R Ashwin in the IPL has been, given that he looks to work on his spin bowling to add to his arsenal as a cricketer as well. “It’s not the big things, it’s minute things. Like when to bowl what ball, and even before the last game I was speaking to him about the carrom ball. I was telling him I wasn’t getting the pace or the spin I wanted with the carrom ball, so he just suggested a few tweaks here and there with the hand position and the palm, and I could see the difference instantly.”
East Zone have the tall task of taking down Mayank Agarwal’s powerful South Zone team, even though the Karnataka opener retired hurt from their last match of the group stages. The final will be played on August 3 in Puducherry.
