Sep 07, 2024 12:33 PM IST
Riyan Parag was distraught, crestfallen and angry. He could not believe what he had done in the Duleep Trophy match between India A and India B.
Riyan Parag is not the one to hide his emotions on the cricket field. Whatever he feels will most likely reflect on his face or actions. And it did to a great extent on Day 3 of the Duleep Trophy match between India A and India B at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Resuming at the overnight score of 27, Parag looked assured on Saturday morning – he had looked the same even in the last session of Day 2 – and gave the impression of setting up for a big one.
He had only three runs to his overnight score but his feet were moving in the right direction. The way he was covering the line of the ball against India B’s pacer Mukesh Kumar was a clear indication that he meant business. But all of it came crashing down in the 39th over.
Left-arm pacer Yash Dayal strayed down the leg side and Parag, blinded by the line, stretched his hands to flick it fine but ended up getting a finer edge to India A keeper Rishabh Pant, who made no mistake.
Parag was distraught, crestfallen and angry. He could not believe what he had done. A leg-side stranglehold was perhaps the last thing on his mind after batting so well to get himself. He stood in disbelief for a few seconds before smacking his pat on his pad and walking back to the pavilion while shaking his head.
Initially, it appeared that Parag was not satisfied with the decision. But if that was the case, why didn’t he review it? India B still had two of them in the bank. It confused former India leg-spinner Laxman Sivaramakrishnan, who was in the commentary box at that time. His colleague and former India captain, Anjum Chopra, clarified that Riyan Parag’s reaction was because of the way he got out and not because of the umpire’s decision.
Replays showed that Parag had gotten a thick outside edge, and the ball was nowhere near his thigh pad. The impressive 79-ru stan between Riyan Parag and KL Rahul was broken. It was the first breakthrough for India B on the third day.
Riyan Parag dismissed by Yash Dayal
Parag was the second India A batter to get out in this fashion. On Friday, opener Mayank Agarwal was caught down the leg side while trying to flick Navdeep Saini’s length. Pant took an excellent diving catch on that occasion.
Earlier, Musheer Khan’s marathon knock (181) and Navdeep Saini’s resilience (56) rescued India B from a precarious 94/7 to end up with 321.
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