After losing Jos Buttler and Sanju Samson in the opening over, Parag and Yashasvi Jaiswal added 134 runs in a counter-attacking third-wicket stand and were in sight of an impressive win. But Jaiswal fell for a 40-ball 67, while Parag was dismissed for a 49-ball 77 and from there, RR lost their way to suffer just the second loss of this season.
“I don’t think any one of us threw our wickets. Jaiswal tried that scoop because Natarajan was bowling good slow bouncers and hence he predicted a yorker and went with that shot. I tried to muscle it for a six, probably an error in execution, but I don’t really think we threw our wickets. It would have been nice to stay till the end, it was the plan for both of us,” said Parag in a post-match press conference.
He was quick to note that Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Pat Cummins and Natarajan bowled well in the last five overs to deny RR a victory. “I was pretty confident but you have to give credit to how they bowled. It’s their home ground, they bowled like they knew how the wicket was playing. You got to give credit to Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Natarajan and Cummins. Cummins especially bowling that 19th over, going for 8 runs or something like that, they bowled better than us in the slog overs. It is never good to end on the losing side. We did a lot of things right.
“We will focus on more rather than dwelling on our mistakes. We are at a good position in the points table. Just one bad game I guess. We made a few errors in two-three overs and it cost us the game. That is how T20 and IPL is,” he elaborated.
In ten innings of IPL 2024, Parag has amassed 409 runs to be the fourth-highest run-getter in the competition, averaging 58.43 at a strike-rate of 159.14. His name was also taken by some people as a contender in India’s squad for the Men’s T20 World Cup, but Parag feels his best is yet to come.
“I got a lot of areas to improve. I am not in my best form, I would have finished the game otherwise. I got a lot of areas to perfect. I try to learn from my mistakes and not repeat them. Is it my best innings? No. I would say that if I get a hundred.
“Last year I wasn’t even in contention to play the IPL. “Now I’ve heard a few rumours, I’m not on social media anymore, I’ve heard a few noises here and there. I’m glad they are taking my name for the right reasons now.
“I wasn’t really thinking about anything. I’m happy for the boys in our team, Sanju bhaiyya (Sanju Samson) especially getting the call-up. It is going to be great for our country and we can hopefully bring the World Cup home,” he concluded.
IANS