Kolkata, it’s not easy to deal with relentless trolling, especially when you’re barely past your teenage years but Ryan Parag’s cricketing journey hasn’t exactly been a bed of roses. After scoring just 600 runs from 54 matches in the previous seasons to merciless criticism, heavy trolling and inviting a meme-fest on social media, Ryan 2.0 has burst into IPL 2024, scoring 284 runs so far. He is second only to Virat Kohli in the run aggregator list. No extreme rituals, only his statements came through his willow and finally he understood how to deal with life at 22 yards. “”Life outside cricket really affects you. And how I deal with that is a hugely important part that has played in my career,” Ryan said ahead of Rajasthan Royals’ IPL match against KKR here on Tuesday. He averaged no more than 17 in his previous seasons and his best return came in his first year with the bat, when he amassed 160 runs from seven outings at 32.00.
“It didn’t really start well, I took a lot of things to heart, what was being said about me, etc., whatever it was. I had to figure out what was important to me, whose opinions were important to me and I finally found that and that helped,” said last year’s Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy winner. Ryan said after scoring a half-century against Bengal in the T20 tournament, making a celebratory gesture that he was above everyone else. He faced a lot of criticism, sometimes rightfully so, for his on-field antics. More so, because the shows weren’t coming. But under the guidance of Zubin Bharucha at the Royals Academy in Talegaon, things changed as he worked on his game, fitness and the results he showed in every domestic tournament this year. His name has been doing the rounds as a potential contender in the Indian squad for the T20 World Cup in USA and West Indies but realistically, he has a more realistic chance of making the cut in the tour of Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe.
“I’m not really thinking about it to be honest. If you told me I’d be in this position last year, I wouldn’t have believed you,” Ryan said.
“So I’m very happy to do what I’m doing and I want to continue doing it. I want to take it one game at a time and focus on how I can win more games for the team, because that’s very important.
Before this IPL, Ryan scored just 78 runs from seven matches at an average of 13.00 in 2022 while Kumar Sangakkara was the no. Being promoted to 4 changed the course of his career.
“Cricketing-wise, playing at number 4 is something I’m used to doing again, in domestic cricket in different situations, in more normal situations. But yes, it’s a mix of both emotionally and skillfully. – wise.”
“I feel like I’m contributing a lot to the team and I’ve been trying to do that for the last few years, it just hasn’t really clicked. This time it’s here and I want to keep it going,” he said. He said.
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