Former India head coach Ravi Shastri feels Riyan Parag’s slow start was the reason for Rajasthan Royals’ (RR) 10-run loss to Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at home. Parag was sent in to bat at no.6 ahead of impact player Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin and all-rounder Jason Holder. But, he failed to finish the match and played too many dot balls in the slog overs.
"They lost Samson, they lost Buttler and 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," Shastri said on Star Sports.
"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," he added.
Parag walked in to bat in the 16th over when Royals needed 53 more runs to win from 29 balls. Till the penultimate over, he scored just three runs from seven deliveries while Devdutt Padikkal took the attack to the opposition. He managed to hit a six in the penultimate over and started off with a four in the final over. However, he failed to finish the game and remained not out for 15 off 12 balls. Also, he refused to take the second run off the last ball to reduce the defeat margin which may come in handy as the tournament progresses.
Former England captain Kevin Pietersen was critical of Parag's approach as well. He felt that they should have accelerated much earlier with the kind of firepower they had in the lineup.
"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," Pietersen said.
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