“Life on the outside” would affect Riyan Parag till he started to filter out the unnecessary stuff and concentrated on the areas that needed his attention on the cricket field. Having done that, the youngster — with 284 runs so far — has only Virat Kohli ahead of him on the rungetters’ list this season.
“Life on the outside of cricket really affects you. And that has played a major part in my career. It didn’t really start out well as I took a lot of things to heart, whatever they were,” 22-year-old Riyan recalled.
“I just had to figure out what mattered to me, whose opinions mattered to me, and I figured that out eventually. Cricket-wise, I think playing at No.4 is again something which I’m used to doing in domestic cricket... But yeah, it has been a mix of both, emotionally and skill-wise,” the Rajasthan Royals batter explained at Eden Gardens on Monday.
What stands out is the “definite change” in his work ethics, feels Royals support coach and head of academy coaching Siddhartha Lahiri. “Riyan has practised a lot at our high performance centre in Nagpur. He has a set system in his preparation for every game, including how he warms up. He has also increased his volume of facing deliveries within the last 12 months,” Lahiri said.
Earning a place in India’s T20 World Cup squad, though, is not on Riyan’s mind now. “If you had told me last year I’d be in this position, I wouldn’t believe you. But honestly, I’m really glad to be doing what I’m doing and I just want to continue that. I want to take it one game at a time.”
