Riyan Parag was touted as one of the emerging stars when he featured in India’s triumphant U-19 World Cup campaign back in 2018.

A year later, the youngster was roped in by Rajasthan Royals (RR) for INR 10 lakh. Even though he failed to justify the price tag, RR bought him back in the IPL 2022 mega-auction.

Despite the constant backing, Riyan has failed to make a mark so far. In IPL 2023, he scored 78 runs from seven matches at an average of 13 while his overall batting average reads 16.22 after 54 games.

After the IPL 2023 season, Parag endured failures in the Emerging Teams Asia Cup, which led to a social media backlash and criticism.

In the ongoing Deodhar Trophy, Parag has regained his form. He has amassed 259 runs in four innings at an average of 86.33 and a blistering strike rate of 133.51.

In a recent interview with Cricket.com, Riyan Parag opened up on how he deals with critics and trolls while also reiterating that he has not taken anything for granted.

“What hurts me the most is that people think I take it for granted, I have some connections or sources, and that’s absolutely HORSE**, I told you about my journey. People from Assam haven’t played at the IPL level, I’m going to play a lot more. I do not take anything for granted, I have the craziest work ethic, you can ask people who are close to me. All that goes unnoticed because I don’t brag about it on social media. You can have all the assumptions if you don’t want to know me,” Parag said.

While his poor numbers often bring him under the scanner, Riyan Parag also gets trolled for his on-field behaviour and social media activities at times.

“I do not care. I definitely do not care about what people think about me. I’m going to play cricket the way I started playing cricket, that was me having ** tons of fun. I want to play cricket the way I want to play. Performances for me don’t really matter, as long as I’m having fun and can stay calm, I think it is sorted, man,” Parag added.