Kumar Sangakkara, Rajasthan Royals’ sporting director, did not give a direct answer when asked if Riyan Parag could be in line for a place in India’s squad for the T20 World Cup in June, but at the same time said that the youngster’s potential is there for everyone to see.
The 22-year-old Assam cricketer is second only to Virat Kohli in the leading run-getter’s list this IPL having scored 261 runs, with a top score of 84 not out and a strike rate exceeding 158.
The Royals suffered their first loss of the season on Wednesday when Gujarat Titans humbled them, but Riyan left his mark with a 76 off 48 balls.
“I think his (Riyan’s) potential is there for everyone to see. I think for Riyan it’s really about concentrating on Rajasthan and this season, and whatever happens (being considered for T20 World Cup) will happen after that,” Sangakkara said.
The former Sri Lankan, one of the greatest modern-day batters with more than 12,000 Test and 14,000 ODI runs, went on to say: “I think you should never get too ahead of looking at things to find the future.
“As long as he keeps his head down, he is working hard, he is batting well, he is very organised, he’s worked hard in the off-season, he just needs to keep doing those good things and, if he does all that, good things will happen.”
Sangakkara also had words of encouragement for Ravichandran Ashwin, who went wicketless on Wednesday. The senior spinner hasn’t been having a good IPL with the ball.
“Ash (Ashwin) is one of the greatest spinners to play the game and you can’t have great days all the time. Once in a while, you have a bad day. Ash is a fierce competitor and he’ll come back,” Sangakkara said.
