“The way he played his first 8 balls changed the course of the match” - Ravi Shastri unhappy with RR youngster’s approach

Former India head coach Ravi Shastri has expressed his dissatisfaction with Rajasthan Royals (RR) batter Riyan Parag’s knock in the IPL 2023 match against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on Wednesday, April 19. Parag scored only four runs off the first eight balls he faced as RR went down by 10 runs while chasing 155.

Batting first after losing the toss at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur, LSG posted 154/7 on a challenging surface. Rajasthan’s openers added 87 in 11.3 overs. However, the middle order struggled and RR were eventually held to 144/7.

Parag, who came into bat at No. 6, remained unbeaten on 15 off 12 balls. He did manage to strike a six and a four. But according to Shastri, the batter’s slow start hurt the team’s momentum in a big way.

Speaking on Star Sports, the former India all-rounder commented:

“They lost [Sanju] Samson, they lost [Jos] Buttler and [Yashasvi] Jaiswal but still they had enough, a lot of depth. I think that period of play when Riyan Parag came in and the way he played his first eight balls changed the course of the match. Padikkal, at the other end, lost his rhythm as well.

“Runs started coming in singles and there was a period of 28 balls that stage without a boundary. When you go through that much time without a boundary, you are asking for trouble.”

Yashasvi Jaiswal top-scored for RR with 44 off 35 balls, while Jos Buttler chipped in with 40 off 41. Skipper Sanju Samson was run-out for two, while Shimron Hetmyer (two) also perished cheaply. Impact Player Devdutt Padikkal (26 off 21) gave Rajasthan hope before being dismissed in the last over by Avesh Khan.

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“They could have gone for the kill much earlier” - Ravi Shastri on RR’s batting approach

While the pitch in Jaipur wasn’t the easiest to bat on, Ravi Shastri reckoned that Rajasthan made life difficult for themselves by not going hard at the LSG bowling earlier.

Questioning RR’s batting tactics, he commented:

“They knew what they were chasing. Luckily, they are on top of the table and they will learn a lot from this defeat. They will learn about the changes in their batting unit. Parag was given the responsibility, they watched how he played. They had such a strong batting lineup. They could have gone for the kill much earlier.”

Despite the loss, RR remain atop the IPL 2023 points table with eight points from six games and a net run rate of +1.043.