 "Riyan Parag had a tough time explaining Rajasthan Royals' defeat to Lucknow Super Giants. Image: Reuters")
Rajasthan Royals’ (RR) stand-in captain Riyan Parag was lost for words as he struggled to process the loss against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in Jaipur on Saturday. RR needed just 25 from the last three overs with eight wickets in hand, but ended up losing by two runs.
It was a similar heartbreak to their previous loss against Delhi Capitals (DC), when the Royals failed to cross the line despite needing just 23 from the last 12 balls. That match went into a Super Over and DC eventually won it.
RR captain Parag takes blame for LSG defeat
Parag failed to explain where Rajasthan went wrong in the chase against LSG as Shimron Hetmyer and Dhruv Jurel could only manage six runs in the final over when nine was required.
“I don’t know what we did wrong. I felt we were in the game probably till the 18th over and 19th over, actually,” Parag said at the post-match presentation. “But yeah, I don’t know.”
In fact, RR had Yashasvi Jaiswal batting on 74 and Parag on 38 at the start of the 18th over when they needed just 25 from the last 18 balls. However, Avesh Khan accounted for both wickets in the 18th over, cleaning up Jaiswal and dismissing Parag LBW as the skipper missed a scoop shot.
Parag felt that was where RR lost the match, as he took the blame for the defeat. “I think it’s something along those lines,” Parag said. “I blame myself for this. I probably should have finished it in the 19th over. But then, I don’t know if that was a bad decision for myself. I mean, we [have] just got to put one game together collectively for 40 overs. Only then can we expect a win.”
Impact Shorts
More ShortsParag points out Sandeep Sharma over
Parag also mentioned Sandeep Sharma’s last over, which resulted in 27 runs as LSG posted a total of 180. Abdul Samad smashed the veteran pacer for four sixes in the over and Parag felt the final target was at least 15 runs over par.
“I think we did really well [with the ball]. The last over was unfortunate,” he said. “I kind of thought we would stop them at like 165, [or] 170 max. The last over was unfortunate. Sandy bhai is trusted. I think he just had one bad game, and Abdul Samad batted really well. So I thought we were like probably 20 runs over par, [or] 15 runs over par. But we should have chased that down.”
RR are in deep trouble now, having won just two out of eight matches so far. Their next match is away from home against Royal Challengers Bengaluru on 24 April 24.