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 and is nowhere near the reckoning for India selection.

The 21-year-old 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 poor numbers often bring him under the scanner, Riyan Parag also gets trolled for his on-field behaviour and social media activities at times.

Recently, Rajasthan Royals shared a video on Twitter, where Parag spoke out against his critics and trolls.

The video opens with cricket analyst Joy Bhattacharjya taking a jibe at Parag, claiming that RR plays with five bowlers, five batters, and Parag.

Parag then shares his thoughts on the criticism he receives. “People pay their hard-earned money to come and watch us perform, not play. Us not performing, them hating, I understand,” he said.

Riyan Parag further stated that former cricketers and commentators should text him personally instead of posting stuff on social media.

“But verified accounts, ex-cricketers, commentators, when they are posting about this on social media when they are taking out time to tweet about me, you can just text me. I would honestly just love that, because if anyone can just DM me and say ‘Hey, I know this is how you play cricket, but if you do this, you might have a better chance of performing,’” he added.

Parag also talked about being dropped from the RR playing XI in the IPL 2023 season.

“There were two games I was really looking forward to this year, one was Mumbai, and one was RCB, and I didn’t play both,” said Parag.

He was replaced by Dhruv Jurel in the line-up and the wicketkeeper-batter grabbed the opportunity with both hands, scoring at a strike-rate of 172.72.

“Everything was sorted, I was fully ready, I was preparing very hard before the game. I was very very disappointed not to go to Bangalore, cause that’s a team I love playing against. I look up to Virat so much and sharing the field with him is obviously very big for me. Beating them is a joy for me. But then you have to go back to the hotel, look at yourself in the mirror and say, ‘I’ve been left out,” said Parag.