Rajasthan Royals (RR) stand-in captain Riyan Parag reacted after they lost their tournament's opener clash against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. Parag praised SRH for their dominating performance as Pat Cummins-led side smashed 286/6 in 20 overs which is the second-ever highest score of the tournament.
Parag believes that opting to bowl against SRH was the right decision but the bowlers failed to execute it better. He also said that he expected that the last edition's runners-up SRH would manage to score 200 but 220-240 would have been good to take.
"It was tough, just like I expected. Credit to SRH but we could have executed better. Will have a sit down and chat about today. (On choosing to bowl first) I feel collectively we took that decision, it was the right decision but it was about executing better. You’d mind if 280 is on the board, in the toss I said 200 was what I expected but 220-240 would have been good to take" Said Riyan Parag in a post-match presentation.
RR captain Sanju Samson who featured as an impact player and young wicketkeeper batter Dhruv Jurel tried hard to win the game despite the monstrous target. Samson scored 66 off 37 and Jurel scored 70 off 35.
"Quite a few positives, the way Dhruv and Sanju batted was brilliant. And then Hettie and Shivam as well later on. Tushar bowled really well, Sandy paaji did well. A win or a less, we take the learnings and then we forget" added Parag.
Riyan Parag will lead RR for the first three matches of the tournament, the Rajasthan-based franchise will now face defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders on March 26 at ACA Stadium in Guwahati.