'Unfortunately, He Hasn't..', Kumar Sangakkara Opens Up On Riyan Parag's Poor Form
Riyan Parag is in abysmal form [Source: AP]
Rajasthan Royals' hopes of IPL 2023 glory have hit a snag with the team's young batting sensation Riyan Parag struggling to find his form. The young all-rounder's recent performances have been far from his best, scoring seven, 20, five, and seven runs before a meagre 15* off 12 balls in their last match against the Lucknow Super Giants on Wednesday they lost by ten runs.
Kumar Sangakkara, the head coach and director of cricket for Rajasthan Royals, acknowledged Parag's struggles and vowed to address the issue in the upcoming training days.
In the post-match press conference, Sangakkara highlighted that Parag had been batting well in the nets. He expressed his confidence in the player's abilities, even when coming in as an impact substitute.
“He’s (Parag) been batting well in the nets. We do back our players quite well, especially when he comes in as an impact sub for us or DDP (Devdutt Padikkal) comes in as an impact substitute, looking at the local talent that we have,” said Sangakkara.
Sangakkara outlined the team's strategy, explaining that Parag's clear plan is to hit as many sixes as possible in situations like the last few overs of the game. He added that the team had Dhruv Jurel to manage the pace, and they only needed a couple of sixes from Parag during the middle overs.
“In that situation (last couple of overs), he can just go out and hit as many sixes as quickly as he can. It’s a very clear plan that Riyan has. We had Dhruv (Jurel) to kind of take care of the pace and we just needed 2-3 sixes in the middle overs,” added the legendary cricketer.
Despite his poor IPL record of 576 runs in 52 matches, Sangakkara assured fans that the team is committed to backing their players, especially local talent like Parag and Devdutt Padikkal. He emphasised that they would assess and address Parag's form during training to get him back to his best in the upcoming matches.
“Unfortunately, he hasn’t been in good form. We will assess that and address that at his training and see where we get to over the next few games,” concluded Sangakkara.
With Rajasthan Royals aiming for a top-four finish in the IPL 2023 tournament, they will look to their young stars, including Parag, to rise to the occasion and deliver match-winning performances.
 "Jatin")
