IPL 2023: Riyan Parag had a great opportunity to demonstrate his batting prowess in the IPL 2023 last evening. Parag, who has previously claimed that he can be a finisher like MS Dhoni, had the stage set for him to get Rajasthan Royals over the line in their chase of 155, but not only did he fail to get the team over the line, but his innings of 15 not out of 12 balls at a strike-rate of 125 left fans furious.
Parag is not universally adored. Some of his antics have even been met with criticism from both laypeople and professionals. Nonetheless, his batting has long awaited a chance, and when that opportunity presented itself on Wednesday night, he once again failed to capitalize, and RR fell to Lucknow Super Giants by 10 runs. And because of it, many on Twitter were really harsh with Parag.
Ravi Shastri criticises Riyan Parag after his knock against Lucknow Super Giants in IPL 2023
Ravi Shastri, a former coach for India, felt that Parag’s knock effectively ended whatever hope RR had. After RR’s top order fell, Parag came in at No. 6 and had a rough start, scoring just 4 runs off of the first 8 balls he faced in a frantic chase. The demise of Rajasthan was a result of his and his partner’s inability to get going. Parag scored a boundary and a six.
“They lost [Sanju] Samson, they lost [Jos] Buttler and [Yashasvi] Jaiswal but still they had enough, a lot of depth. I think that period of play when Riyan Parag came in and the way he played his first eight balls changed the course of the match. Padikkal, at the other end, lost his rhythm as well. Runs started coming in singles and there was a period of 28 balls that stage without a boundary. When you go through that much time without a boundary, you are asking for trouble,” Shastri told Star Sports after the match.
“They knew what they were chasing. Luckily, they are on top of the table and they will learn a lot from this defeat. They will learn about the changes in their batting unit. Parag was given the responsibility, they watched how he played. They had such a strong batting line-up. They could have gone for the kill much earlier,” he added.
In other news Ashes 2023: Here is the complete schedule for both men’s and Women’s Ashes
