Rajasthan Royals’ key player Riyan Parag came to bat at No.4 for his side in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 match against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). RR skipper Sanju Samson revealed that the youngster would bat at the top of the order at the toss before the match against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on Sunday, March 24 at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur.

“Parag will come in at No. 4. Coming back to Jaipur sends a positive vibe. A lot of youngsters in the team have become superstars in the last ten months, it’s great,” Sanju Samson said at the toss.

However, Riyan Parag impressed everyone for the Rajasthan Royals way back in 2019 when he took on the best bowlers in the business. In 7 matches, he scored 160 runs at an average of 32 and a strike-rate of 126.98 with a top score of 50 as well. But since then, he has failed to do well against the top quality teams. In the last five seasons of the IPL, Parag scored only a single half-century with a top score of 56 not out as well.

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But, Riyan Parag has been in sublime form for the Assam team in Indian domestic cricket, but he failed to show the same consistency in the IPL as well. In 98 T20 matches, Parag has scored 2043 runs at an average of 30.04 and a strike-rate of 142.17 with 18 fifties to his name as well.

However, he stepped up with the bat in their IPL 2024 campaign opener. He smashed a quickfire 43 off 29 with a four and 3 sixes as well where he took on every batter and played shots all over the field. But, he couldn’t convert his start into a big score and got out as well. He went for a big shot off Naveen-ul-Haq who bowled a short ball and Riyan Parag went for the pull but got a top-edge. And, Hooda made no mistake while grabbing it and sent him in.

After the first innings, Riyan Parag said to the host broadcaster as quoted by Cricbuzz- “The main goal was to take the game deep, the wicket was staying very low and was assisting the spinners. My mindset was simple, the way I play my domestic game, I just practiced well in the last 10 days and implemented it on the ground today. Sanga was pretty clear, I had a chat with him, Sanju bhaiya and the management, I wanted that clarity, I had played at 4 in the domestic season.”

Here is how fans reacted to the knock of Riyan Parag: