“He reminds me of Suryakumar Yadav”: RR assistant coach Shane Bond on Riyan Parag

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], April 2 (ANI): Rajasthan Royals (RR) assistant and bowling coach Shane Bond has said that the youngster Riyan Parag reminded him of star India batter Suryakumar Yadav.

Parag played an unbeaten knock of 54 runs from 39 balls against Mumbai Indians (MI) on Monday. He smashed 5 fours and 3 sixes at a strike rate of 138.46. The 22-year-old got hold of the ‘orange cap’ in IPL 2024 after his blistering knock.

The Rajasthan-based franchise sealed a 6-wicket win over Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium.

While speaking at the post-match press conference, Bond said that Parag has ‘extreme talent’ and he has matured as a cricketer.

“He sort of reminds me a little bit of Surya, who came to Mumbai a few years ago. He looks like that – he has got extreme talent. He has just matured as a cricketer, even though he is only 22,” Bond said.

The RR assistant coach added that the franchise’s main focus has been to win games in the tournament.

“If your team is successful, you are in a winning team, selections and rewards come from that. That has more of been our focus, to forget about all that other noise from the outside and just work really hard for each other,” he added.

Summarizing the match, after winning the toss, RR opted to bowl first. Trent Boult (3/22) destroyed the MI top-order in the powerplay, reducing them to 20/4. A 56-run partnership between skipper Hardik Pandya (34 in 21 balls, with six fours) and Tilak Varma (32 in 29 balls, with two sixes) brought some order into the innings briefly before MI experienced a collapse again to end at 125/9 in 20 overs.

Yuzvendra Chahal (3/11) and Nandre Burger (2/32) bowled well for RR and rocked the MI batting line-up with regular wickets, never giving them a chance to breathe.

In the run chase, RR lost openers Jos Buttler (13), Yashasvi Jaiswal (10) while skipper Sanju Samson could make only 12 in 10 balls. Reduced to 48/3, they were in a tricky situation. But Riyan Parag once again performed a brilliant rescue act, scoring 54* in 39 balls, with five fours and three sixes to take his side to a six-wicket win with 27 balls left.

Akash Madhwal (3/20) was the pick of the bowlers for MI.

Following the win, the Rajasthan-based franchise stand at the top place of the standings with six points at a net run rate of +1.249. On the other hand, Hardik Pandya’s side are at the bottom of the table and are yet to score points.