The 21-year-old Assam all-rounder Riyan Parag first made headlines back in 2019 when he was bought by IPL franchise Rajasthan Royals for INR 10 lakh. He would then be retained for three more years, but not before making a name for himself as the selfish brat who wouldn’t mind taking on the likes of seniors like Harshal Patel and Mohammed Siraj in IPL games. Perhaps a lot of fans misunderstood him and didn’t think twice before bashing him left, right and centre on social media.
Nevertheless, the youngster seems to have learnt his lessons and used them to great effect as he batted brilliantly in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2022 where he accounted for 552 runs, including three hundreds. Now, he has one goal: To play for India.
“I have been prioritising myself and my opinions about myself. I can surely play for India in the next years so I am just sticking to that and working, working and only working towards that,” he told News 18 Cricketnext in an exclusive.
Furthermore, he added how people have misunderstood him for his celebrations, saying that he will keep on doing what he does as the sport has turned serious.
“There is this thing in India where cricket is supposed to be played in a certain way. There’s a rule book for cricket I feel that only successful players can celebrate and you can do this you can do that. I started the game because I loved it and enjoyed playing the game,” he said.
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“And that’s how I play my cricket… even if it’s the IPL or school game back home. I am not going to change my way of playing cricket or the way I celebrate. It’s just that I have fun. People nowadays have taken out fun from the game, it’s a very serious game (laughs). I like to play my cricket in a very fun way. That’s not going to change. If people want to change their opinion, they can. Even if they don’t, it doesn’t really matter because I am very content with myself.”
Parag has been among a select few who have been retained by the Royals, speaking on the issue, he said people see his celebrations, but don’t pay heed why Royals management is so keen on retaining him.
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“Everyone talked about how the management backed me but no one really threw light on why they are backing me. That only the team and management know.”
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