Rajasthan Royals batsman Riyan Parag keeps trending on social media for his antics on and off the field. However, his performances with the bat in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) have been disappointing. Perhaps, the man from Assam tweeted before the IPL that his conscience is telling him that he will hit four sixes in an over at some point in the 2023 edition. But Parag bounced back with scores of 7, 20, 7 and 5 in five matches, while he was dropped in one game.
It is not that Parag has been coming to bat in the lower order. He has been getting constant opportunities to bail the team out of trouble or capitalize on set platforms. But in both the aspects, the cricketer has been disappointing. Moreover, the Royals have been constantly criticized since the 2019 season for not only carrying the 21-year-old in the squad but also in the playing XI.
Interestingly, Riyan Parag’s salary in IPL 2023 has been more than that of many uncapped Indian cricketers. He was first bought by the Royals in the IPL 2019 auction for his base price of Rs 20 lakhs. But then his shares seemed to be increasing in the IPL 2022 mega auction. Apart from RR, the youngster from Assam also got bids from CSK and GT. He eventually went to the Royals for a whopping sum of INR 3.8 Crores.
This amount is huge considering his IPL career so far. Riyan Parag has played 51 matches in the cash-rich league and has scored only 561 runs at an average of 16.03 and a strike rate of 123.57. He has only a few fifties to show for himself and has hit 42 fours and 24 sixes. With time running out for Parag, he will have to act soon before he is put out at long last.