IPL 2024 RR vs RCB: How Riyan Parag has been biggest boost for the Royals?

His transformation into an improving cricketer has been the biggest boost for the Royals in IPL 2024. They have won three matches on the trot. In all of them, Parag has been involved immensely

There was already a buzz around Riyan Parag ahead of the star of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. However, that buzz, unlike in the last few years, was not focussed upon trolling him for on or off-the-field actions such as his usual Bihu dance celebrations after taking a catch or wicket or his antiques while batting. 

Parag was hyped and he has delivered to that hype by talking with his bat more than anything else. Parag's transformation into a cricketer who wants to improve has been the biggest boost for the Royals in IPL 2024 as they have won three matches on the trot and in all three of them, he has been involved immensely. 

 

What brought about the change in Parag's attitude?

"When I play domestically, this is the exact type of situation I go in to bat so when Jos [Buttler] bhai got out and Ash [R Ashwin] bhai got out a little after, I was like '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," this is what Parag had to say while talking about his unbeaten 54-knock innings against the Mumbai Indians. 

Domestic cricket has indeed brought about a change in Parag's temperament and his hunger for improvement. In all the three domestic trophies that he played in more than one game, the Assam-born showed the prowess of his batting. 

Parag's form in the 2023-24 domestic season 

While he was the leading run-scorer in both the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) and the Deodhra Trophy (50-over zonal tournament), Parag also made useful runs including one of the fastest centuries in the Ranji Trophy. He averaged 75 in the red-ball format while in the SMAT, his strike rate was 182 and average 85 in 10 innings. He missed out on the Vijay Hazare Trophy, but more than made up for it during the Deodhar smashing 354 runs at an average of 88 and strike rate of 136 in five matches.

Riyan Parag in different series during Indian domestic season 2023-24 

Series	Matches	Runs	Average	Strike Rate
Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy	10	510	85	182.79
Ranji Trophy	4	378	75.6	113.85
Deodhar Trophy	5	354	88.5	136

Hard work and faith rewarded 

Rajasthan had faith in him and kept him in the squad even after him not perform up to his potential, the little star from the Northeast made sure that he repaid the faith of the franchise by putting in the hard yards. 

“I have had three to four years of not performing at all or even. You go back to your hotel room and you think. I tried finding what was wrong, and I figured out that I was not practising at this level enough," Parag would confess after getting the coveted orange cap for the first time. 

As is evident from his domestic numbers for 2023-24 and the fact that he now can translate his potential into performance, efforts have started fruitage for Parag. In three matches, he already has 180- runs to his credit while during his best-ever performance (in terms of runs) in 2022, he could amass only 183 in 17 matches. 

"It’s the fruit of a lot of practice. I’m a little emotional. I’m witnessing the result of my hard work," Praga had said. But it will be better for him to wait for the entire season of IPL 2024 to see how sweet the fruit of success tastes.