'You are not going to get the Orange Cap' - Virat Kohli to Riyan Parag

Riyan Parag dazzled in his brief cameo against the Punjab Kings (PBKS) side. The 19-year-old smashed a whirlwind 25 off 11 deliveries in Rajasthan Royals’ first match of IPL 2021.

And now, Parag has opened up on the advice that he received from batting legend and RCB skipper Virat Kohli. Parag stated that he had a chat with Kohli last year and the Indian skipper told him not to worry about the Orange Cap.

Parag also added that Kohli asked him to focus only on getting the crucial 20 or 30 runs to take the team through. Parag has revealed that since then, he has only thought about how his contributions are benefitting the team.

“No, it doesn’t actually [if not getting a lot of chances to bat matters to him]. I had a chat with Virat Kohli during the last IPL. He specifically told me that ‘you are not going to get the Orange Cap. You bat at No. 5 or No. 6 so there is no point in you thinking about the Orange Cap. You just think about how you can get those crucial 20 or 30 runs and when you get the chance to go in at a crucial phase, just think how you can get the team through.’ So that really fit in my mind and now I don’t think about how many runs I’m getting, I just think how my runs are benefiting the team,” said Parag in a chat with Cricbuzz.

“When you come up against people like Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni, it makes you mentally strong,” says Riyan Parag

Riyan Parag also added that a cricketer comes across the best players in the world in a tournament like the IPL. The Rajasthan Royals’ youngster concluded by stating that playing against the legends of the game like Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni makes a cricketer mentally strong.

“Mentally, it has been a big positive impact. When you play for your state, you get to play India’s best players. But when you play IPL, you get to share the dressing room with players like Steve Smith, Ajinkya Rahane, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Jofra Archer. These are top current international cricket players. And then when you come up against people like Virat Kohli or MS Dhoni, it makes you mentally very strong,” concluded Parag.