After all of the support he has gotten from the club management throughout the years, Riyan Parag has continued his strong form in IPL 2024. And his current success stems from simplifying things and reproducing what he has done successfully in domestic cricket.
“Nothing, to be honest,” Parag told the broadcasters when asked what differently he has done this season. “Actually, I have simplified everything instead of trying to do a lot of things. Before when I was not getting runs, I would think about it too much, try and do different stuff altogether, and then it would not work out. This year the goal was to keep it simple – watch the ball and hit the ball.”
On a Wankhede track that aided the spinners, the Rajasthan Royals lost Yashasvi Jaiswal early in the chase, followed by Sanju Samson and Jos Buttler in short succession, leaving the team at 48/3 in a 126-run chase. Although the target was small, there was an opportunity for MI to capitalize, but Parag shut it down with a well-paced innings of 54 not out in 39 deliveries, including five fours and three sixes.
“I have said it before, when I play domestic (cricket) this is the exact type of situation I go in to bat. When Jos [Buttler] bhai got out, and Ash [R Ashwin] bhai got out a little after, I was like, ‘okay, this is what I do. This is what I’ve been doing for the last six months playing domestic cricket’. So it was pretty simple to calculate everything,” he said.
Parag began his IPL career in 2019 with a solid performance, scoring 160 runs in five innings at an average of 32. However, the ensuing editions did not go as well for him, with the batter only reaching 100 once in four editions and averaging less than 20 in each. However, he has finally found his stride this season.
Parag now holds the orange cap, having scored 181 runs in three innings, including two half-centuries. This form builds on his outstanding form in domestic cricket, when he scored 510 runs in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy at an average of 85 with a strike rate of 182.79, followed by 378 runs in the Ranji Trophy at an average of 75.60. In 16 innings in both forms, he scored two century and eight half-centuries.
Parag spoke about what led to his IPL metamorphosis, saying, “I’ve had three or four years of not performing at all, or even one match per season. You genuinely walk back to your hotel room and think to yourself that when you know you can do something and it doesn’t happen, when the performances don’t happen, you have to start over.
“I tried finding what was wrong and I figured out that I was not practising at this level enough. So, I went back after the (2023) season and practised very hard. And I think that’s showing now. I practised these types of balls, these types of scenarios a lot. Hence the performances.”
