VIRAT KOHLI HAD SOME words of caution for young emerging talent Riyan Parag during his poor run of form at IPL 2023.
Playing for Rajasthan Royals, Parag was doing so badly that he got benched. But during the competition, he heard something from his idol and Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli that helped him turn things around.
Speaking to Indian Express, the 21 year old revealed what he had heard from the King,
"He told me ‘something that has worked for half a year cannot be wrong after a few failures. What happens in the IPL is that the tournament goes on so fast that after failing in two games, you start to question yourself. Everyone makes mistakes and I have made tons of them. Two-three games don’t go your way and you feel (the need) to change your process and work ethic... it was him telling me that ‘take the reality check and accept that this is a bad phase but it doesn’t mean that you need to change the process that has been working for you."
The words stuck with Parag. So much so that he immediately went back to the drawing board and concentrated on his game. And he got the result for his hard work at the Deodhar Trophy where he produced a stellar performance scoring two centuries and a well-crafted 95 for the East Zone, and also became the third highest wicket taker in the tournament.