Dismissed just once in three games so far, Rajasthan Royals’ Riyan Parag, with 181 runs, joined Virat Kohli at the top of the run-getters’ list on Monday and bagged the Orange Cap by virtue of a better average and strike rate than the former India captain. Kohli, of course, was playing on Tuesday and reclaimed it.

Riyan’s place in the Royals’ line-up was questioned on several occasions as he couldn’t quite come up with meaningful contributions in the IPL’s previous editions. But after a string of consistent performances in the domestic circuit for Assam, especially in last year’s Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy where he got a record seven successive 50-plus scores, Riyan seems to come across as a much-improved batsman.

The 29-ball 43 in the Royals’ opener against Lucknow Super Giants, game-winning 84 not out off 45 balls against Delhi Capitals and an unbeaten 39-ball 54 against Mumbai Indians on Monday have all been a testament to the improvement in Riyan’s batting. According to his father Parag Das and Subhrajit Saikia, a member of the Assam coaching staff, the 22-year-old is a lot more mature now.

“There has never been any doubt over Riyan’s talent. And that’s why the Royals have continued to support him. It’s not that he has made any drastic changes in terms of his technique or training method. But what stands out this year is his maturity. He’s reading the situations better,” Das, also a former first-class cricketer for Assam, told The Telegraph on Tuesday.

“Yesterday (Monday), when Jasprit Bumrah was getting the ball to move, he looked to play that phase out instead of going for strokes. So yes, he’s quite prudent now when it comes to shot selection.”

Saikia said: “Confidence-wise, Riyan has reached another level after the kind of performances he put up in domestic cricket. Not just in white-ball cricket, he fared well in this year’s Ranji Trophy too till he got injured. That confidence has rubbed off on him while he also seems to be having a better understanding now of which shots to play when.”

Batting up the order at No.4 has also benefitted Riyan. “Previously, he would go out to bat lower down the order at No.7 or 8. But now that he’s going in at No.4, just as he does when playing for Assam, it appears to be much more comforting for him,” Das said. “He’s getting at least a few balls to settle down instead of having to go bang bang right from ball one.”

If Riyan continues in such form, the selectors will surely be interested in him while finalising India’s T20 World Cup squad.