T20 World Cup selection is still weeks away. There is pressure on the players, some want to talk about it, most are reluctant to discuss it. Among the contestants, Ryan Parag has to be somewhere in the top. But he doesn’t sweat it. Regardless of how the selectors gauge Rajasthan Royals’ performance and their individual form in relation to India’s T20 set-up, the past few months have already been a personal triumph.
“If you had told me last year that I would be in this position (in the World Cup reckoning), I wouldn’t have believed you,” Parag said before RR’s match against Kolkata Knight Riders on Monday. “I’m happy doing what I’m doing and I want to keep 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 more important.
This IPL, Parag has batted like a video game, always finding a way to take on bowlers and plunder runs. It is early days, but 284 runs in the first six matches (behind Virat Kohli’s 319) at an average of 71, a strike rate of 155.19 and 18 sixes (by an Indian batsman before Monday’s match) indicate his huge appetite for runs. As Parag promised, his sparkling display of 510 runs (avg. 85, SR 182.79) in the last Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy all came at No.4.
Every now and then he stepped into reality. Against Lucknow Supergiants, he missed a slower ball, while against Royal Challengers Bangalore, Yash Dayal’s flick was so perfectly timed that Virat Kohli didn’t have to move at short midwicket. And then at Mullanpur they gained height but not far enough. But over all those omissions flashed sensational scores – 84* against Delhi Capitals, 54* against Mumbai Indians and a turbo-charged 76 where he demolished Gujarat Titans’ bowling with five sixes.
Heartfelt in all those innings was Parag’s conviction in picking his shots and willingness to take the game till the end. Whether it was powering the Royals to a formidable 185/5 batting first or guiding them to a stunning victory after the top three fell within seven overs at the Wankhede Stadium, Parag has quietly evolved into a reliable finisher. Home or abroad doesn’t matter as Parag has developed the ability to tune out everything unnecessary.
“You get really empty when you’re going in the middle,” he said. “When you get to the stadium, maybe you’re distracted. You can listen to them. But once you start playing, it’s just white noise.
What Parag’s strength is, and he talks about it, is his refusal to let circumstances overwhelm him. Although not easy to achieve, a certain level of detachment is desired, especially after Parag has gone through a long phase without much income. “Life outside cricket really affects you,” he said. “And that’s an important part that’s played in my career, how I deal with it. It didn’t really start well, I took a lot of things that were being said about me to heart.
“I had to figure out what was important to me, whose opinions were important to me and I finally found that. And that helped. As for cricket, playing at No.4, again I’m used to doing it in domestic cricket in different situations, more normal situations. But yeah, It is a mixture of both emotionally and skillfully.