“Unfortunately, he hasn’t been in good form, we will assess that” - Kumar Sangakkara on Riyan Parag

Rajasthan Royals (RR) head coach and director of cricket Kumar Sangakkara has admitted that batter Riyan Parag hasn’t been in good form in IPL 2023. He added that the issue will be addressed and assessed during training in the upcoming days.

Parag scored 15* off 12 balls as RR went down to the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) by 10 runs on Wednesday, April 19, failing to chase a target of 155. Prior to the game against LSG, the 21-year-old had registered scores of seven, 20, five, and seven.

The right-handed batter struck a four and a six in his innings against LSG, but it wasn’t enough as RR fell behind the asking rate. Asked about Parag’s struggles, Sangakkara said at a post-match press conference:

“In that situation (last couple of overs), he can just go out and hit as many sixes as quickly as he can. It’s a very clear plan that Riyan has. We had Dhruv (Jurel) to kind of take care of the pace and we just needed 2-3 sixes in the middle overs.

“He’s (Parag) been batting well in the nets. We do back our players quite well, especially when he comes in as an impact sub for us or DDP (Devdutt Padikkal) comes in as an impact substitute, looking at the local talent that we have. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been in good form. We will assess that and address that at his training and see where we get to over the next few games.”

The Assam cricketer has a poor overall IPL record. In 52 matches, he has scored 576 runs at an average of 16.46 and a strike rate of 123.61.

---

“We weren’t committed enough” - Sangakkara unhappy with lack of batting intent

Chasing 155, Rajasthan got off to a solid start as their openers added 87 runs. However, they lost their way after that as LSG's bowlers stifled RR’s batters.

Reflecting on the failed chase, Sangakkara opined that the batters weren’t committed enough to take down the bowlers. He commented:

“At the back end, especially (Ravi) Bishnoi’s last over, we weren’t committed enough to take him down look for three four sixes. Even if the batter got out that time it didn’t matter. It was a tough pitch. Lucknow bowled really smartly but at the same time we should have got over the line.”

Sangakkara added that while openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler laid a good foundation, the middle order could not capitalize on the same. He said:

“The openers put on a very good stand. We were needing eight once the 12th over was finished with 10 wickets in hand, that’s not very difficult on a big ground.”

RR were 93/1 in the 13th over. However, Sanju Samson getting run out for two swung the momentum in LSG’s favor. Eventually, Rajasthan were held to 144/6.