Former Indian spinner Murali Kartik questioned Riyan Parag’s captaincy amid the ongoing Indian Premier League. Rajasthan Royals registered a six-wicket win against Punjab Kings at New Chandigarh on Tuesday, but Parag’s captaincy came under the scanner.
RR decided to drop Ravi Bishnoi, who is their second-highest wicket-taker in the season, and decided to bring in leg spinner Yash Raj. Furthermore, Sandeep Sharma and Tushar Deshpande didn’t get their chance in the playing XI.
“They have the bowling options. Could they have used Dasun Shanaka in the middle for a couple of overs? Maybe he could have been brought on. Today Riyan Parag decided that RR will only use five bowlers. The way he does his captaincy has been interesting so far, he has taken some bold calls,” Murali Kartik said on Cricbuzz.
Kartik also questioned Parag for bowling Brijesh Sharma in the death overs. Sharma conceded 42 runs in his four overs, including 24 runs in the final over.
“He used Yash Raj Punja for the sixth over in one match, and threw him in the deep end. Bringing on Brijesh Sharma into the attack in the 18th over, and then in the 20th over when Nandre Burger had 2 overs left in another game. Does Riyan Parag take these calls himself or is he being told to from outside?” he continued.
On the other hand, RR had lost their previous game against SRH despite putting 228 runs on the board. Parag said it was imperative for them to review their errors and come back stronger against PBKS.
“I think as a team, what we’ve discussed right before the start of the tournament, I feel we treat this as a game. I know everything around it, it has a lot of value, but for us, I think it’s again, when we lost last game, it was about the mistakes, the errors, what we did well. Same thing today. I thought we could have restricted them for a little lower, but then the batters picked up the slack. But yeah, next game, I feel moving forward, we discuss about this, review it, and then move forward,” Riyan Parag said during the post-match presentation
Rajasthan Royals will next take on the Delhi Capitals at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium, Jaipur, on Friday.
