Riyan Parag reflects on swashbuckling knock alongside 'Sanju bhaiya'

Riyan Parag (Pic: AFP)

Following Rajasthan Royals' (RR) 20-run win over Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the IPL 2024, batting all-rounder Riyan Parag said that he developed a few shots while playing alongside skipper Sanju Samson.

Parag played a blitzkrieg knock as he scored 43 runs from 29 balls at a strike rate of 148.28. He smashed 1 four and 3 sixes during his time on the crease. He revealed that Samson told him not to try any risky shots since the conditions was "little tougher".

"Today when batting with Sanju bhaiya, I had developed a few shots and I was constantly trying to poke him by asking 'Sanju bhaiya, let me hit one' and he was like 'no, no, today's wicket isn't that easy'. Even though we have been practicing here, today was a little tougher, day game, ball keeping low so he was like 'no, no, not right now,'" Parag said.

He added that if Samson was not there then he would have tried playing risky shots. The 22-year-old accepted that in the first ball he was close to getting himself out against Krunal Pandya.

"If I didn't have him there, I would have tried to play that shot, it may or may not have come off, but then that element of risk goes down and you prolong your innings and get your team to a better score. Even if I had got out first ball as I was very close to against Krunal, I will be fine because I did everything right and now this is just results. If it happens, it happens, if it doesn't I come back again tomorrow," he added.

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Coming to the match, RR opted to bat first in their IPL 2024 encounter. Openers Jos Buttler (11) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (24 in 12 balls, with three fours and a six) departed without making much impact, reducing the team to 49/2. Following that, a 93-run partnership happened between Riyan and skipper Sanju, who scored 82' in 52 balls, with three fours and six sixes. Dhruv Jurel (20' in 12 balls, with a four and six) finished off well to take RR to 193/4 in 20 overs.

LSG was reduced to 11/3 in the chase of 194 runs. Then Deepak Hooda (26 in 13 balls, with two fours and two sixes) along with KL stabilised the innings a bit. Following Hooda's dismissal, which left LSG at 60/4, KL stitched a 85-run stand with Nicholas Pooran (64 in 41 balls, with four boundaries and four sixes). But a win was not meant to be for LSG as RR made a comeback with timely wickets, reducing LSG to 173/6 in 20 overs.

Trent Boult (2/35) was the pick of the bowlers for RR. Sandeep, Ashwin, Nandre Burger and Yuzvendra Chahal took a wicket each. Samson was given the 'Player of the Match' award for his half-century.

(With agency inputs)