After conceding IPL’s 2nd highest score vs SRH, Riyan Parag comes up with another amusing comment before KKR match

Rajasthan Royals stand-in skipper Riyan Parag feels that the scores of over 280 runs won’t be achieved every game of the season. Parag is confident about his team getting back to winning ways and backed his team’s strong middle order to do the job. Rajasthan Royals conceded 286-6 in their opening match of IPL 2025 against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Riyan Parag, who is leading the side in place of Sanju Samson for the first three games, was left out of options at one point. SRH’s brutal batting on a flat deck at Hyderabad might have deflated RR’s confidence, but Parag has shown confidence in his team to bounce back against KKR. According to him, the middle order’s role will be key when his team is chasing a lower total. Riyan Parag challenges SRH’s batting order Despite losing the match to last year’s runners-up Sunrisers Hyderabad, Riyan Parag was pleased with the way RR’s middle order performed. He labelled the middle order as the “backbone” of his team and claimed that they are not going to be chasing 280+ totals every time. “I feel the middle order is always the backbone of any batting order. For them to step up like they did, for them to bat like they did, regardless of the end result, I think that’s a big plus because we are not going to get 280 games every game of the season. There are going to be 180, 140, 150 games, and that’s where we’ll need them the most,” Parag told the reporters before the match against KKR. While the bowlers had a poor day in the office, RR’s middle order batters played splendidly to take their team to 242-6 despite being 50-3 at one point. Sanju Samson, Dhruv Jurel, and Shimron Hetmyer smashed the ball all around the park, but they still fell well short of the target. Riyan Parag’s earlier statement on SRH Earlier, a video had gone viral where Riyan Parag was asked about SRH’s power-packed batting performance in IPL 2024. The allrounder claimed that it was a one-season wonder and won’t happen again “(Travis) Head was going berserk, and then Abhishek (Sharma) was doing his thing. I don’t think it’s going to happen next year. That’s a bold prediction, but then I feel… at least, we figured out to not get hit for those 250-240 high scores,” Parag had said on a podcast with ‘BeerBiceps’ YouTube channel. pic.twitter.com/TAEVJgnRBI — Out Of Context Cricket (@GemsOfCricket) March 24, 2025 However, SRH continued with their aggressive route, and Rajasthan Royals became the first victim of their strategy in the new season. They are likely to continue this way, given that it is also their strength. SRH batters punish RR bowlers Sunrisers Hyderabad decimated the Rajasthan Royals by 44 runs in their first game. SRH scored a mammoth 286-6 in 20 overs after being put in to bat first. Ishan Kishan struck a fine hundred while the other batters like Travis Head and Heinrich Klaasen also made vital contributions. In reply, Rajasthan Royals lost their opener Yashasvi Jaiswal and the captain Riyan Parag early. However, the middle order bailed them out of trouble with some fine knocks. Samson opened the innings and struck 66 off just 37 balls. Dhruv Jurel emerged as the highest run-scorer with 70 off only 35 balls. Hetmyer also played a whirlwind cameo down the order and smashed 42 off just 23 balls. Youngster Shubham Dubey had an excellent outing with the bat and remained unbeaten on 11-ball-34.