Rajasthan Royals bowling coach Shane Bond praised youngster Riyan Parag for his breakout season on the bat in ongoing IPL season.
With Parag displaying his full potential with his technically proficient stroke play, an investment from the past is finally beginning to pay off.
Parag’s promotion to number four spot in the batting order has turned his fortune. He turned up for the royals against Punjab Kings during their match in Guwahati. The 22 year old struck 48 runs over 39 deliveries which included six boundaries.
“Riyan has had an amazing season. That promotion to No.4 has really suited Riyan. He has had a number of years batting in a position that was pretty tough down the order. People forget how young he is. It just takes time when you are young. Obviously saw how well he played in domestic cricket. Particularly in the T20s and he has just rolled on. He is a quality player. There is no doubt about that. I am really excited and proud of him the way he has played so far. I think the team is super excited for him, he has borne the brunt of criticism over the last few years in terms of performances,” Bond said in the post-match press conference.
Overall this season, Riyan is the highest run-scorer for the Royals this season with a tally of 531 in 13 matches, scoring at an average of 59.00. He is also the fourth-highest run-getter in the IPL 2024.
Just like Rajasthan, Punjab batters also struggled to adjust to the slow surface of the Barsapara. The hosts adopted the approach of attacking the stumps which was used by Punjab bowlers earlier in the innings. Their efforts reduced the Kings to 48/4.
Sam Curran (63*) and Jitesh Sharma’s (22) 63-run stand took the game away from the Royals and sealed a five-wicket win for the Kings.
“It was a slow wicket. Kings bowled really well on it. Sort of gave us an indication of the way to bowl. They bowled really straight. The only time that we sort of hurt them is when they get offered up some width. The spinner bowled well and they controlled the innings really and that was a goal when we went out to bowl. Bowl straight wicket-to-wicket. Try to make things as hard as we possibly could. At one point we were really in the game. Probably the passage between the two timeouts we just took the foot off the gas a little bit. Obviously, Sam (Curran) played really well he controlled the innings beautifully all the way till the end,” Bond stated.
Rajasthan have qualified for the playoffs and will end their group stage campaign against guaranteed table-toppers Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday.