'Why was I getting so much of hate?' - Riyan Parag breaks silence on dealing with hatred ahead of Zimbabwe series

IPL young sensation Riyan Parag felt he didn't deserve to be trolling when he was going through poor form in the cash-rich league. The 22-year-old cricketer got the nod to play in the 5-match T20i series against Zimbabwe, which is set to commence on July 6 in Harare, earning him his first call-up to the Indian national team owing to the great IPL 2024. The star batter became well-known after India defeated Australia in the final of the U19 World Cup 2018 in New Zealand. Following that, the Rajasthan Royals selected him to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Notably, the stylish right-handed batter made a mark in his inaugural campaign in 2019 but faltered the next four years, making his spot on the team questionable. Rian Parag became the centre of hate and criticism when he was unable to score runs on a regular basis during that time. However, his luck turned with the 2024 IPL campaign. He was selected to play for India after being among the top-run scorers.

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The Assam-born cricketer claimed that constant criticism made things difficult for him when he struggled to perform effectively in the IPL. He did agree, though, that experiencing a challenging time in his field helped him become stronger at it. Meanwhile, the young batter amassed 573 runs from 16 matches at an average of 52.09 and a strike rate of 149.21, which included a high score of 84 not out as well as four half-centuries. This puts him as the third-highest run scorer in the IPL 2024, after Virat Kohli and Ruturaj Gaikwad.

Why was I getting negative energy from all the people except those from the Royals set-up?: Rian Parag

Meanwhile, Rian Parag became the first player from Assan to be called up to the national team, and he wants to encourage his other players to aim higher. Furthermore, Shubman Gill will take charge of the Indian squad, which will be led by National Cricket Academy (NCA) head VVS Laxman, in the series, which begins on July 6 at the Harare Sports Club.

"Why was I getting so much hate? Why was I getting negative energy from all the people except those from the Royals set-up? I tried to understand my game. And once I started doing that, I got this sudden love for getting into cricket a lot. I was never a big cricket geek, but today I like watching videos, analysing my game, comparing certain elements of my batting to someone that does some things better, and learning from it," Rian Parag said on ESPNCricinfo.

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