Rajasthan Royals (RR) all-rounder Riyan Parag heaped rich praise on his teammate Kartik Tyagi after he successfully defended four runs to secure an incredible win for RR against Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL 2021) on Tuesday (September 21).
Punjab Kings (PBKS) needed just four runs off the final over, but Tyagi bowled a stunning spell to snatch the remarkable 2-run victory for the RR from the jaws of defeat at the Dubai International Stadium.
Defending the four runs off 6 balls in Dubai, Tyagi dismissed Nicholas Pooran (32) and Deepak Hooda (0) while conceding only one run to win the game by 2 runs for RR against PBKS on Tuesday.
Hailing the young pacer for his efforts, Parag said that Kartik's over was the “number one” spell he has seen in his cricketing career and hopes he will continue to win the games for the RR.
Parag said at the post-match media conference after the match: “I think, 100 percent, it is the number one spell I have ever seen in my cricketing career. But then I hope he (Kartik) does it in the rest of the games and wins us more matches.”
He continued, “We were in the driving seat after the first innings, but then I think, we were poor in the field and then the game was slipping away from us. Then in the 19th over, I told Mustafizur (Rahman), don’t let it finish in this over and we have a chance with Kartik bowling the 20th and those boys were insane, defending eight runs off the last two overs, that is just incredible.”
The 19-year-old also revealed that he had kept the helicopter shot in his armory as he bats in the death overs, where bowlers mostly bowl yorkers but lamented he couldn’t do it well against PBKS.
He added, “I think, this is such a shot (the helicopter shot) which should be in your armory because I mostly bat in the death, and most of the bowlers perfect the yorkers, so I am just keeping an option. If it is a yorker or is in my line, then I can use a helicopter (shot). It did not pay off well today, but I am confident that in the next match, I get the same ball, I will try the same thing.”
The young all-rounder also admitted that he had a bad day in the field against PBKS, but was hopeful of improved fielding in the next IPL 14 game against Delhi Capitals on September 25.
Parag signed off by saying, “It was just a bad day, we rate ourselves as really good fielders, I rate myself as one of the best fielders and it's at the end of the day even I am human. I can drop a catch too. But we have got two practice sessions after this and work really hard on that and hopefully from the next match (we are) even better fielding side.”
(With PTI Inputs)
