Rajasthan Royals director of cricket Kumar Sangakkara has praised the inform Riyan Parag, saying his potential is there for everyone to see but the Sri Lankan legend fell short of stating that the youngster deserves a place in India's T20 World Cup squad.
The 22-year-old is second only to Virat Kohli in the leading run-getter's list this IPL season having scored 261 runs, with a top score of 84 not out and a strike rate exceeding 158.
The hard hitter's 76 off 48 balls went in vain as Gujarat Titans overhauled the imposing 196-run total off the last ball of the innings here on Wednesday to break the Royals' four-match winning streak on Wednesday.
"I think his (Parag'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," said Sangakkara in response to a question about whether the Assam cricketer could be in line for an India berth for the World Cup later this year in the West Indies and the USA.
"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," added the charismatic former Sri Lankan, one of the greatest batters with more than 12,000 Test and 14,000 ODI runs.
Sankakkara also defended his star spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who went wicketless in his four overs on Wednesday, with pacer Kuldeep Sen (3/41) and leg spinner Yuzvendra Chahal (2/43) grabbing the spotlight.
"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 that RR lost the game in the last two overs. Pinch-hitters Rahul Tewatia (22 off 11) and Rashid Khan (24 not out off 11) played a pivotal role for GT when the 2022 IPL champions required 40-odd runs off the last three overs.
"I think we were right there, Kuldeep Sen coming in to bowl three brilliant overs; we just lost it towards the back end. We probably did not use the pitch as well as we should have but that's the way the game goes.
Tewatia, who came at a time when Sen had GT struggling following three quick wickets, said he had the self-belief that 40 runs off the last three overs was very much achievable.
"We needed 40-odd runs in three overs, I was batting with Shahrukh and Rashid was still to come. We were telling each other that 2-3 hits can change the game. 40 in three if you have wickets in hand... it's a matter of 2-3 big hits only.
"If there is one big over then 40 in three overs and with the impact-player rule, then I suppose it's chaseable" added Tewatia.
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