OPINION
Follow UsBack in 2014, in a Design for Change Conference, former Rajasthan Royals’ skipper, Rahul Dravid shared an inspirational story. It was about a 41-year-old Pravin Tambe and his journey along with the story of how he was selected for the Royals outfit.
In the same breath, Dravid mentioned how he got a call from the Royals CEO, who told him “We are Rajasthan Royals, we are supposed to promote young players”. Now you see where I am going with this one, don’t you?
Riyan Parag is 20. TWENTY! But he might have easily faced more threats and abuse on the various social media platforms than several other cricketers in the country. The all-rounder isn’t even judged by his on-field performance anymore, he is only critiqued for his ‘celebration’ on the pitch.
Isn’t it weird?
Let’s move on to the criticism, it isn’t wrong, he hasn’t really lived up to the bill but criticising him solely on his celebrations is truly disastrous.
Until the 2022 IPL season started, the right-hander had scored 339 runs in the competition, out of which 160 came in his maiden season, where he struck at 127. But ever since he got his maiden half-century, the expectations grew in stature.
It is worthy to note that he has combined in his last two seasons only faced 160 deliveries in comparison to the 126 he faced first season.
He was donning the role of a finisher, with unreal demand to get the acceleration rate up, which also meant that his average and batting numbers would take a hit. Rightfully at the end of the day’s clash, Ravichandran Ashwin explained how Parag’s role is tricky and how it is not always about the numbers.
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His role wasn’t and isn’t number-oriented, it was about finding the boundaries for the franchise, which has been severely misunderstood by most of us. So, when the youngster proclaimed that he can be India’s next big finisher, there were trolls from around the corner.
The commentators across the language scape took turns to take a dig at him (for his celebrations), saying that he was only in the team for increasing social media numbers.
You don’t have to be a former cricketer, a great of the game to decipher how horrible that is. Even as a viewer and lover of the game, the criticism that the youngster has to go through will make you sick. So, when Parag came out to bat, at 68/4, the critics were on the prowl.
But the youngster gave no hoots to the critics, slamming Shahbaz Ahmed for a massive six.
Throughout the next ten overs, next 60 deliveries, he ensured that he was there at the crease, he ensured that he took the responsibility and converted the quick start into a meaningful innings. Prior to this knock from the youngster, he had faced a cumulative 36 deliveries in the tournament in five encounters.
“After the start in the first 15 overs, we had real belief and trust in someone called Riyan Parag. We have been backing him for the last three-four years and he just showed it to the world today,” said RR skipper Samson after Parag’s knock.
All that was required for him was time at the crease. Remember when KL Rahul came out smashing, when David Warner came out smashing and said that all they needed was time at the crease. Parag needed that. When he knew that he had over ten overs, with his entire side’s fate hanging in the thinnest of threads, he came out performing.
Never once during his innings, there was an extravagant celebration. And once he brought up his half-century, he showed emotion and he ended on 56 off just 31 balls, on a surface where other struggled.
But it was not one of jubilation. It was one of relief. After all, he is 20, under tremendous pressure from all quarters of the cricketing community, it was a well deserved one. It is scary that at just 20, the right-hander has extreme calmness and range of shots at the death overs.
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“We are the Royals, we are supposed to promote young talents”. The story doesn’t end there. Kuldeep Sen is just 25. Prior to this season, he hadn’t played a single IPL fixture, he wasn’t even in the reckoning to play one either. But if you go and check his Instagram profile, his handle reads: 150kuldeep.
That’s the confidence of the 25-year-old. His dad is a small barber in Rewa, Madhya Pradesh but his son was making him proud, every delivery in Maharashtra. First against Lucknow, now against RCB, the right-arm pacer was right on pace (point). Against Lucknow, he bowled the final over and earned the appreciation of the Royals faithful.
Here it was no less. It was a two-paced wicket, it was a wicket where Rajasthan huff and puffingly put up 144 on board. RCB were 37/1 when the ball was thrown to Kuldeep. The very first delivery, he clocked 146.9 kmph, the ball went zoop before Faf du Plessis could make any sort of connection.
And the next two, which he will remember for the longest time, his pace was enough to see the back of both Faf and Glenn Maxwell. Just one run, two wickets, Kuldeep once again showed why RR were ready to bring him back into the setup, even if it came at the expense of a foreign pacer.
51 runs off 24 balls with Wanindu Hasaranga at the strike, Samson yet again threw the ball to the Madhya Pradesh pacer. Two more wickets, beating the two batters – Hasaranga and Harshal Patel – with his brute pace.
For a franchise which has several superstars – Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson, Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Shimron Hetmyer and Trent Boult – the two youngsters, Parag and Kuldeep putting their hands up, is the ultimate statement.
“The Royals have shown faith in me for the last three years, and I am paying them back bit by bit. I love pressure and I am just showcasing my abilities,” said a smiling Parag after winning the Player of the Match.
Rajasthan are not just promoting young talents but are also topping the IPL table Royally.
