Shane Bond says this Rajasthan Royals youngster reminds him of a young Suryakumar Yadav
In the post match conference, Bond reflected on the Riyan Parag's noteworthy domestic cricket season.
After years of getting trolled and criticized for his performances in the IPL, Riyan Parag has finally shut the critics with his stellar knocks in the recently conducted three matches for Rajasthan Royals. Parag has been a match winner for the Royals in IPL 2024 and bagged the player of the match award in the previous game against Delhi Capitals.
The Royals recently registered their third victory of the season after defeating Mumbai Indians by six wickets in their first home match at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Parag’s unbeaten half century led the team to chase the low target of 126 within 15.3 overs. A huge credit of the youngster’s recent success goes to the RR team management who consistently backed him.
After the team’s triumph against Mumbai Indians, Rajasthan Royals bowling coach Shane Bond, compared Riyan Parag with that of Mumbai’s attacking batter Suryakumar Yadav.
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Shane Bond hails Riyan Parag for recent innings against Mumbai Indians
In the post match conference, Bond reflected on Parag’s noteworthy domestic cricket season heading into the ongoing 17th season of the IPL. The New Zealand cricketer further highlighted how Riyan has matured as a cricketer and has catered to the Rajasthan Royals team’s requirement of a finisher in the middle order.
“He (Parag) sort of reminds me a little bit of Surya (Suryakumar Yadav), who came to Mumbai a few years ago. He looks like that - he has got extreme talent. He has just matured as a cricketer, even though he is only 22. He (Parag) has had an outstanding domestic season, obviously, batting up the order. The trade we made with Devdutt (Padikkal), bringing Avesh (Khan) in, was to put Riyan up into a position which was probably better suited,” said Shane Bond.
Shane Bond further talked about the need for a finisher for RR at number 6 position until last season, but they have solved that issue as they have hired Rovman Powell in this edition.
He added, “Riyan started so young, you forget that he was 17 or something, playing in one of the toughest spots in a batting line-up of No 6. You look at the characters who finish games around the IPL, they are generally pretty experienced guys.”