He took down Nortje and powered Royals to 185 for 5 with his career-best 84* off 45 balls
ESPNcricinfo staff28-Mar-20244:17
Moody: Parag showed us what he’s capable of doing
In IPL 2023, Riyan Parag managed only 78 runs in seven innings at an average of 13 and strike rate of 118.18. It wasn’t the kind of output Rajasthan Royals would have expected of him, especially after having bought him back for INR 3.8 crore in the auction the previous year. In just two innings this season, both at No. 4, Parag has scored 127 runs at a strike rate of 171.62. The tally included a career-best 84 not out off 45 balls against Delhi Capitals on a tricky pitch in Jaipur on Thursday.Parag, 22, put his recent success down to the hard work in the lead-up to this IPL season. In the 2023-24 Syed Mustaq Ali Trophy, he had emerged as the top-scorer with 510 runs in ten innings at an average of 85 and strike rate of nearly 183. It included a sequence of seven consecutive half-centuries – a T20 record. Parag had fine-tuned his T20 game by working with Zubin Bharucha, the former Mumbai player, who is a senior coaching staff at Royals.”I think it’s a result of a lot of practice behind the scenes,” Parag told the host broadcaster after powering Royals to 185 for 5. “I think it’s not about the bowler but the ball he is bowling and I practiced a lot of those balls and I could execute a few of them tonight.”In the final over of Royals’ innings, Parag lined up Anrich Nortje, one of the fastest bowlers in the world, and took him for 4, 4, 6, 4, 6. Even bouncers and yorkers were not spared.