Riyan Parag justifies Rajasthan Royals’ faith with two-over rampage

The young all-rounder rarely gets opportunities in a line-up of heavy hitters, but Tuesday’s scenario against Royal Challengers Bangalore was tailor-made for him to shine with the bat.

For a team that has Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson, Devdutt Padikkal and Shimron Hetmyer in the playing eleven, Rajasthan Royals have made no attempt to hide their predilection for Riyan Parag in the slog overs. Chief coach Kumar Sangakkara conceded that earlier this season, admitting the mistake of not sending Parag ahead of Rassie van der Dussen once Ravichandran Ashwin had retired out in the narrow win against Lucknow Super Giants. Sangakkara regretted not getting “the full benefit of Riyan”, but after Tuesday’s win he may tell himself it was worth the wait.

Riyan Parag of Rajasthan Royals reacts (PTI)

It’s very easy to overlook Parag in the vast pool of India hopefuls. A career IPL average of 17.72 with a strike rate of 125—these aren’t numbers that will make you sit up and take note. Yet Royals kept faith in Parag, picking him with a bid of ₹3.8 crore. “(There’s) a bit of satisfaction. The Royals have shown faith in me for the last three years and I am paying them back bit by bit,” said Parag after getting the Player-of-the-Match award for a 31-ball 56*, of which 30 runs came in the last 12 balls.

You wouldn’t have guessed Parag’s utility from the string of low scores going into Tuesday's match, aggregating just 48 in five outings. Numbers also tend to tell only one side of the story. In Parag’s case, he has rarely got enough time to make that sort of impact. On Tuesday though, with Royals reeling at 68/4, the scenario was set up perfectly for Parag, to justify his bid and demonstrate his talent.

The start was a little unflattering—struck on the pad after failing to read Wanindu Hasaranga’s wrong ’un. But with a forward defensive push and a caressing drive off the next two balls, Parag quickly overcame his jitters. Next over, Shahbaz Ahmed erred by feeding into Parag’s hitting arc, allowing him to lift him over long-on for a six. A straight boundary two balls later and Parag was already taking off.

An intrinsic feature of Parag’s batting is his ‘high-risk, high returns’ philosophy that the Royals feel is working best with the current set of players. Parag’s gift also lies in adapting quickly and waiting for an opportune release point. After losing Daryl Mitchell in the 15th over and Hetmyer in the 16th, Parag just focused on grafting and salvaging the situation one run at a time. That also meant going without a four or six for 15 deliveries on a two-paced pitch.

“I love pressure,” said Parag. “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 strategise and go after (Josh) Hazlewood and Harshal (Patel).”

That inside out six first ball of the 19th over from Hazlewood was a sign of things to come. The runs could have been checked had Hasaranga not spilled Parag’s catch at cover the next ball. But in a high-intensity format like T20, it’s imperative to bounce back quickly. RCB couldn’t, allowing Parag to go on the offensive and milk those last two overs, getting under yorker length balls and muscling them over the boundary. Opportunities like these don’t come often. When it did, Parag grabbed it with both hands—exactly what Royals had been hoping for.

“We had real belief and trust in someone called Riyan Parag,” skipper Samson said after the win. “We have been backing him for the last three-four years and he just showed it to the world today.”