Riyan Parag has received a warning to focus on making it into Test cricket by former Pakistan batter Basit Ali. Ali claimed that Parag is squandering valuable possibilities that may lead him down the path of Shreyas Iyer. Parag scored 37 off 28 balls in the first innings of the second Duleep Trophy match in Anantapur.
Riyan Parag batted at No. 4 for India A versus India D and got off to a fast start. Despite losing two early wickets, Parag maintained his free-scoring approach and counter-attacked the opposition bowling attack on a favorable bowling surface.
He looked set for a big score until he was removed by Arshdeep Singh when swiping to a full-length ball outside off stump that went straight to the slip. Riyan Parag received yet another mild expulsion after failing to capitalize on another opportunity.
“Don’t focus on white-ball matches” – Basit Ali to Riyan Parag
Basit Ali warned Riyan Parag on his YouTube channel not to throw away valuable opportunities. He argued that Parag is not justifying his talent and is simply trying to be too aggressive like Shreyas Iyer.
Iyer had an even worse day as he was dismissed for a duck by left-arm seamer Khaleel Ahmed. India D were 86-4 in response to India A’s 290 in the first innings.
“He has a lot of talent, and he’s such an effortless player. He hit that straight six today over mid-off, it was top-class. But he isn’t justifying that talent. He has to play session by session. Just like (Shreyas) Iyer, he is also getting aggressive. I admit, you have to counter-attack, but once you succeed in that, you should focus on prolonging your innings,” Basit said on his YouTube channel.
Riyan Parag recently made his India T20I and ODI debut on tours of Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka.
Basit Ali also encouraged Riyan Parag to focus more on red-ball cricket, as India is scheduled to play Tests against New Zealand and Australia in the coming months. He felt Parag was losing his wicket too easily.
“These are the days where Riyan Parag needs to capitalize and score big. There’s the New Zealand series, then the Australia series. Don’t focus on white-ball matches. You’ve got the No. 4,. In the previous match, he played aggressively, too. Here, you had already scored 30-35 runs, you can’t give your wicket like that. He has to take care of that. And the coaches need to talk to him, tell him this isn’t the way,” he added.
Parag has played one ODI and six T20Is for India. However, he has yet to demonstrate his bat skills in international cricket. The 22-year-old has scored just 57 runs in six T20Is, at an average of 14.25.
However, he has shown signs of his ability and has been good with the ball.