Riyan Parag opens up about his plans for IPL 2021
Riyan Parag
|| India Correspondent ||
Since the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League is around the corner, Rajasthan Royals are no different. And, the franchise's 19-year-old talented batsman Riyan Parag said that lack of game-time owing to the COVID-19 restrictions last year gave him enough time to work on his other passion - gaming.
However, the youngest half-centurion in the IPL (17 years and 175 days, 2019 season) has been giving less time now. Notably, he has more than 13,000 followers on his YouTube channel, where he regularly streams his live gaming videos during his numerous sessions of Counter-Strike and Valorant as well.
"I play with the top gamers in India. I take it seriously. You can find me sulking if I lose. But I am not as good as them, so I haven’t thought of taking e-sports professionally yet. For that I need to play as long as I used to do in quarantine," Riyan Parag shared.
The Assam player was involved in the brilliant 85* run stand for the sixth wicket with Rahul Tewatia in the last season, which helped Rajasthan Royals break a four-match losing streak as well. That 42 not out off 26 balls was his leading score in IPL 2020 and his only significant contribution for Rajasthan as well.
"My job in RR is to basically finish off games. While that one match was good, I could not perform to my potential in the other matches. I hope to gain more consistency this year. I have prepped well with a good Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy for Assam," Parag says.
On the other hand, during the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy, Parag scored 261 in five matches at an average of 87.00 and strike rate of 141.84.
"I generally bat at No. 4 or 5 for Assam. It’s mostly the same in RR as well. It’s the hardest position to bat. Either you have to curtail your natural instinct and play cautiously to take your team out of danger or you are in the 18th over and expected to smack every ball to the boundary. You have to pay out of your skin. Doing that consistently under pressure is what I am trying to achieve this season," Parag revealed.
He shared his goals for this IPL season as well. "Mostly, I think it’s about qualifying for the playoffs. Last year we know we were last but then if you can imagine ourselves winning a game or two, we could have qualified. It’s a very tough competition. My main goal for this year is to contribute more to the team and qualify for the knockouts," he said.
It is also noteworthy that, he was part of the 2018 U-19 World Cup that India won under Prithvi Shaw, who currently plays for India. Apart from him, Shubman Gill, who was also a part of the team, has been playing for India as well.
"It gives me a lot of motivation seeing Prithvi, Shubman. Even Ishan (Kishan) bhaiya and Surya (Kumar Yadav) bhaiya with their great senior international debuts. They motivate me to perform more consistently in the IPL and hopefully break into the Indian team. Mentally, I visualise the tough match situations and incorporate those aspects in my practice sessions. Match simulation is what I rely on a lot," Riyan Parag concluded.
