After years of underperforming in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Riyan Parag showed a glimpse of his exceptional talent this season.
Playing for Rajasthan Royals, the 22-year-old finished the campaign as the third highest run-getter with 573 runs to his name from 14 innings at a strike rate of 149.21, including four half-centuries.
Prior to IPL 2024, Parag also performed brilliantly for Assam in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, Vijay Hazare Trophy and Ranji Trophy.
Many fans and experts wanted him to get picked in India's T20 World Cup 2024 squad, but the Assam batter was overlooked by the selectors.
However, Riyan Parag wasn’t disappointed by the snub as he strongly believes that he will play for the country at some point.
"At some point, you'll have to take me, right? So that is my belief, I'm going to play for India. I don't really care when," Parag told PTI in an exclusive chat on Wednesday (May 29).
1n 2019, Riyan Parag was roped in by Rajasthan Royals for INR 10 lakh. Even though he failed to justify the price tag, RR bought him back in the IPL 2022 mega-auction.
The youngster had an underwhelming IPL 2022 season, scoring 183 runs in 17 games at an average of 16.64 with only one half-century. 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.
As a result, Parag faced severe criticism and heavy trolling on social media. "When I was not scoring runs - I said this in an earlier interview as well - that I am going to play for India. That is me believing in myself. That is not me being arrogant. That was my plan with my dad (former Railways and Assam player Parag Das) when I started playing cricket at around 10 years old. We (a joint project) were going to play for India regardless of anything."
Alongside Abhishek Sharma and Harshit Rana, Riyan Parag is likely to receive his maiden India call-up for the T20I tour of Zimbabwe post the T20 World Cup 2024.
"Whether it's the next tour, whether it's a tour in six months, whether it's a tour in one year... I don't really put my thought behind when I should play. That is the selector's job, that is other people's job," Riyan said.
Having been at the receiving end of social media backlash on numerous occasions, Parag has stopped taking things to heart.
"You've got to be very quick and very sharp when reacting to things. Social media and all of that play a big part with mental pressure. Because once you start listening to those things... it always starts in a merry way, right?," he asked. "Once you start performing, people really hype you up. Once you start reading that, you get that satisfaction of listening to other people or watching other things."
This year's IPL served as a testament to his belonging at the highest level. "But what I've figured out in the last year or two is that I've got to have an undeniable stack of proof that I belong at this level. Which means (that) me practising a lot, me practising at that level, practicing those situations,” Parag said.
Talking about the biggest takeaway from this season, the Rajasthan Royals cricketer said: "The biggest thing that I've taken away from the last season is that believing in yourself actually works out, because a lot of people say a lot of different things, whether it's negative, whether it's positive. But at the end of the day, what matters is what you think about yourself and that is what I've been for."
(With PTI Inputs)
