Riyan Parag, who had his best IPL so far this year, scoring 573 runs at a strike rate of nearly 150, was at the Rajasthan Royals Academy in Talegaon, outside of Nagpur, when he received news of his first India call-up - for five T20Is in Zimbabwe in July. It marked a significant milestone for the former Under-19 World Cup winner (2018) and the IPL's youngest half-centurion (in 2019).
Not long ago, his dream to play for India had seemed distant, when Parag had four wretched IPL seasons. His celebrations on the field and his outgoing personality often made him a target of online abuse, especially after he couldn't build on his early promise. After the 2023 IPL, Parag was determined to turn things around. In this interview, he talks about how he made the transformation.
It's taken you six years to have that breakthrough IPL. What led to it?
In one of our last chats after the 2023 IPL, Kumar Sangakkara told me I had to work harder to come back and perform. Three poor IPLs back to back made me doubt myself at different points. But over the years, I've always been very big on finding and fixing solutions myself, so I wasn't speaking to anyone actually. I was just trying to figure out what went wrong.
Why was I getting so much hate? Why was I getting negative energy from all the people except those from the Royals set-up? I tried to understand my game. And once I started doing that, I got this sudden love for getting into cricket a lot. I was never a big cricket geek, but today I like watching videos, analysing my game, comparing certain elements of my batting to someone that does some things better, and learning from it.
What kind of work did you put in?
Just going out of my comfort zone was the first step. I went to the Rajasthan Royals Academy immediately after the [2023] IPL. It's hot, 45 degrees or something, and I'd do three sessions a day, every day, for a month. It takes a lot of dedication to just go there, because it's a tough place, tough conditions, but then you've just got to get your work done, right? That has to come from within. That's what helped me, because I wanted to improve. I wanted to know more about my game, I wanted to plan different scenarios. Because I've been lost inside those 22 yards way too many times. I've been lost for options for what I needed to do in certain situations. I think once you go through all those phases, you understand that you need to have at least two to three options for every single ball. And for that, you need to practise. Those practices take a lot of time, but eventually, when you do it for a consistent period, I think it works out pretty well.
It contributed to a stunning domestic season. You made the most runs in the 50-over zonal Deodhar Trophy and the T20 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, in which you made seven straight half-centuries and were a step away from taking Assam to their first final.
It was the coming together of everything I'd put into my game. Playing domestic cricket is a different kind of pressure, because now when I play for Assam, I have to stay till the end. In the IPL, if I get out, there's Shimron Hetmyer, Rovman Powell and Dhruv Jurel [to come after me]. It's not the same in Assam. That pressure is different because the whole team is expecting me to get a fifty or a hundred every game so they can play around me. I'm not comparing the pressures of IPL and domestic; yes, at the IPL, the quality of bowling is way higher, but domestic cricket has a different kind of pressure. To do well across both those spheres is satisfying.
What are the kind of sacrifices you've made in this period that has contributed to the transformation?
I wouldn't call them sacrifices. To me, they are hard choices because I'm doing this for myself. I need to be fit and I want to play good cricket. For that, I've to be in good shape.
Food's a big factor. I like my food, but I can't really eat whatever I want. Sleep is another factor. I can't go out or stay up late. These are the general things I have been working on to upgrade myself. Those are choices but good choices for me.
Your mother says you've become ruthless in saying "no" when it comes to food.
Yeah, I don't mind being rude about this. Recently I was at an event and they were trying to offer me food. I told them, "No, thanks, I can't eat this." I think not giving in to those temptations makes you strong minded. A slice of pizza is not going to hurt me because I just went to the gym this morning and I cycled for like 10km, but then I'm not going to give in. Those are "private victories". That's what one of the UFC fighters I follow, Conor McGregor, says. If you can have those private victories when no one knows what's going on, like refusing half a slice of pizza, even though you know you can burn it off easily… Now I get that self-assurance and self-confidence that, okay, I can control myself. Food is a very small thing to give up.
You said during this IPL that this clarity has come with maturity.
Maturity comes with pain. There are millions watching the IPL. When I don't perform, I feel terrible. And people add to it. Opinions from fans add to it. Opinions from great players add to it. So I just had to figure out what really mattered. Once I did, I think it turned out well. Me not performing, me feeling sad, me being left out of the team, me being abused by people, me coming back to my house knowing my dad and mom were expecting something, even though they don't say it - I think that was pain. I really didn't tell anyone. And I think that's how you mature.
It's not about the age. It's that pain. And only after going through all this, I realised, "Okay, I can't suffer through this." I am going out there to perform.
Everyone has high expectations, but I have had to figure out what expectations work for me. The last year has been about working through all of this.
You've copped a lot of online trolling. Over your performances, celebrations, tweets. How did you deal with it?
After last year, I decided to shut it out. There was a whole stand in certain stadiums that kept abusing me. That's when I understood that you can't really change someone's opinion, no matter what you do. And how I look at life is not how someone else is going to look at it. If I see something that's going on with a person but if I don't know what they're going through, I don't really share my opinion on it. But that's not how everyone sees it. Social media nowadays, even if you try to avoid it, you can't, to be honest. Because if you open Instagram, you'll just see something like that. You can just scroll [past] it, but there will be a thousand other posts. So you can't really not see it. So I was just like, I might as well not open Instagram because I don't need it.
It couldn't have been easy?
It's not easy. But then again, after last year, I had a chat with myself. And this sort of a comeback is personal because I had to put up with stuff I didn't really deserve. Maybe I've lacked in preparation, maybe I've lacked in a few things, but then I've always put my best foot forward. I thought I didn't deserve all the trolling, but what could I do? People are going to say things regardless. Last year they said I wasn't good enough to play in the IPL. Now they want me in the Indian team. So people change, just like a switch.
The abuse and trolling - when did it begin?
During the Covid IPL season [2020]. I was 19, I had a great start to the IPL [debut season in 2019]. You dance [Parag's Bihu dance was a social-media hit], you're active on social media, you're doing well and everyone loves you for it. I got so much praise from people in Assam, who love me because I'm showcasing our culture there. And then when the runs didn't come, they're picking on you. I used to sit on my balcony and stare at the sea endlessly. It took a lot out of me. That's why I say maturity comes with pain.
On the field, you seem very intense now. You smile a lot less, your celebrations are muted. Is that a deliberate attempt to tone things down?
Earlier I wanted to be my absolute true self. That's how I portrayed myself. But because I got so many negative responses from that, because I was not performing... I understood that, okay, I don't have to do that. As the years have gone by, I've refrained a bit. Now I'm just so into my game and into what's happening on that given day. I can't really express myself even if I want to. I don't look back to the crowds even if they are all rooting for me. I'm looking at the bowler, the captain, I'm looking to think about what I would do if I was captain. The way I view a game is different now.
Kumar Sangakkara spoke very highly of your routines and mindset during the IPL. How has your relationship with him evolved - you've now worked together for four seasons?
Communication is key. A lot of players get shy [of speaking to coaches]. Sanga made it very clear from the first year that he was very easy to approach and I took that. I always went to him, spoke about cricket, spoke about life, spoke about golf and a lot of things. It's been really great working with him in the last three-four years. He's very open to suggestions. He is very keen on how you're developing your game even beyond the IPL, for the ten months where no one's watching you. He's still checking on you, on what you're doing, how you're playing. It's been great working with him. He's a legend, but then he's a great human being too.
The shift from a finisher to No. 4 - tell us about that.
Personally, I always felt I was not doing justice to the Nos. 6-7 spots. But I also had to move on quickly and not keep giving excuses, even though people around me made me believe it's a tough position since you don't get too many balls to play. All of which was true. But if I kept living under that umbrella of excuses, I wouldn't further my game. If someone plays three years in the same spot, he's got to figure it out, and I couldn't. I have no one else to blame but myself. I could have done more, and I did not. I got to know just after the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy that I'd bat at four in the IPL. I was batting there for Assam, so I had a fair idea of how to go about it, whether it's 0 for 2 or 100 for 2. So yeah, No. 4 was very easy to accept, but then going out there and implementing it and getting results out of it - that's the difference.
Getting the spot you love must have also brought some pressure with it?
Whatever I've done in my career till now, it's down to confidence and mental strength. I'm not the best, technically. My last domestic season was superb. I got runs in Deodhar Trophy, topped charts in Syed Mushtaq Ali. I was having a good Ranji season and then I got injured in the fourth game, two months before the IPL. I didn't even touch a bat for a month. But the fact that I was able to go into the IPL with confidence is because of the preparation and the confidence of runs.
Then when the season started, just before our second game, I was sick. I couldn't move out of bed. But I've always been very strong mentally, and I didn't want to let go of a golden chance [of getting to bat at No. 4] so easily. That innings against Delhi Capitals [Parag made an unbeaten 84 off 45 balls] was some sort of a momentum builder for me. A lot of people told me after that: don't get complacent, don't get satisfied. And I was thinking to myself: How am I going to get complacent? How am I going to get satisfied when I've had three years of nothing except abuse and negative energy? So this year I was going to play regardless of anything. I've had a fracture, I had a ligament injury, but I just played through because I was not going to leave it.
You've spoken about your admiration for Sanju Samson. What is your relationship with him like?
We are really close. This year we got even closer because he asked me to be part of the leadership circle during the games. I looked out for him, I had to speak to bowlers, talk about fields and communicate with him. So I got a lot of [time in] charge this season, which made me feel really nice because the captain had faith in me to talk to the bowlers, change fields if required, bowl certain bowlers in high-pressure situations.
I think we've gotten really close in the last six years. Sanju bhaiyya is one of the best batters currently. I also believe his wicketkeeping goes unnoticed. On the field you can learn a lot from him - the way he handles himself even when he's angry, the way he handles himself after we've lost the game, all that is really commendable. That's how we get confidence from the captain, because you don't want a captain who's just shouting and showing his emotions. He keeps his emotions to himself, speaks to everyone normally after we've won or lost a game. I think those are the things that make him a really great captain.
Who do you discuss cricket with?
I've always discussed cricket with my dad. I don't discuss cricket with anyone else. I've just had one [constant] coach since the beginning. I've had coaches at different stints, but Dad knows my game better than anyone else in this world. So every game, every practice session, what I've done, what am I doing wrong, what am I doing right, all of those things are all thrashed out at the dining table in a constructive way.
Are you able to sometimes get away from this cycle of train-play-train routine?
Yes, absolutely. I love gaming. I am in the top 5000 rankings in Southeast Asia for Counter-Strike. I've always wanted to be something outside of cricket, and that's how I found gaming, back in 2018-19. When I'm home I don't even pick up books, don't text anyone. I just don't do anything. I go to the gym in the morning, come back, rest, practise, and once that's done, there's no one who can get me out of my chair. I just game, game, game and then go back to sleep and do the same thing the next day. I'm pretty good at it and that's why I can't game when I'm outside, because my set-up is here. I miss it a lot when I'm out on tour but when I'm home, the love is just unreal for gaming. I've now started playing the PubG PC version.
Looking ahead, how does it feel to be recognised as a bit of a path-breaker from Assam?
Growing up, I always felt people from our region limit themselves from dreaming big. I'd like to change that. I'm not there [an international player] yet. I want to play for the country. Once I do, then people know they can have a pathway, a road map from one of their very own who got there. Now I've played in the IPL and there's realisation from the people that even if you're from a small state like Assam, you can get to that level. But the thing is, the IPL can't be that big a goal. You can play for one year and fade away. But when I play for the country, when I make it to the country, I think that's when the actual road map will be set. They don't have to really follow it. They can have their own versions of it.