Despite Rajasthan Royals picking up their first loss of the season at the hands of Gujarat Titans at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, the side can be very optimistic about the performances of their number four batter, Riyan Parag who has had a breakout season, after enduring a tough couple of seasons since his debut in 2019.
Currently, the Assam-based all-rounder is second in the run-scoring charts with 261 runs in five games, after he scored 76 off 48 deliveries in the first innings against GT.
Following his string of performances in pink, fans and former cricketers have been speculating if the youngster is potentially pushing for a spot in India’s T20 World Cup squad. But the Director of Cricket for the Royals, Kumar Sangakkara sees that as a distraction and his focus should be only on playing for the Royals at the moment.
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Speaking at the post-match press conference, the Sri Lankan legend was asked regarding Parag’s chances of getting a call-up for the national team to which Sangakkara responded, “I think his (Parag’s) potential is there for everyone to see. I think for Riyan it’s really about concentrating on Rajasthan and this season, and whatever happens will happen after that”.
The legendary wicketkeeper-batter highlighted the need for the youngster to not get distracted by the hype and focus on maintaining the hard work he has invested in himself and the rest will follow.
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The Sri Lankan said, “I think you should never get too ahead of looking at things to find the future. As long as he keeps his head down, he is working hard, he is batting well, he is very organised, he’s worked hard in the off-season, he just needs to keep doing those good things and, if he does all that, good things will happen”.
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Despite Parag’s heroics with the bat, RR was unable to defend the total as GT inflicted the Royals’ first loss of the season. But the side will look to bounce back and get back to winning ways as they are on the road for their second away game, taking on the Punjab Kings.
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