India’s dynamic batter Suryakumar Yadav hailed Rajasthan Royals youngster Riyan Parag following his batting masterclass against the Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League on Thursday.
Parag put the art of power hitting on exhibition as he came out all guns blazing and made 84 off 45 balls, smacking 7 fours and 6 towering sixes.
He brought up his runs at a strike rate of 186.67.
The Assam batsman struck two sixes and three fours off Anrich Nortje, making 25 runs in the final over of the innings and single-handedly guided RR to a competitive total of 185/5.
The Capitals, in reply, made 173/5, losing the match by 12 runs.
Surya took to X, and hailed Parag for the commitment he has showed and the performance that he has delivered in the IPL.
“Met a guy at NCA few weeks ago. He came with a slight niggle. Completely focused on his recovery and with great discipline working on his skills. And I was not wrong to tell that to one of the coaches there ‘He is a changed guy’ RIYAN PARAG 2.0 Watch out,” Surya wrote on X.
Parag began his innings steadily, scoring 26 runs on 26 balls. In the next 19 balls, he scored 58 runs at a strike rate of 305.
Parag talked about the hard work that he has put in to deal with speedsters like Nortje.
“I have put in a lot of practice, I’ve practised against those kind of (bowling of Nortje). I had my options ready for both sides of the wicket – I was backing my strengths, I know I had the power, it’s good when it comes off,” he said.
“Sanju bhai (skipper Sanju Samson) told me to take it deep, I was confident that I could get a lot of runs. It wasn’t easy for a new batter to come and score, you needed someone to stay until the end. It’s been tough, I’m a bit emotional now, I have worked hard and seeing the fruits of it now.”