IPL 2020: Steve Smith praising me feels surreal, says Riyan Parag

Rajasthan Royals' Riyan Parag is now looking forward to the challenge of playing his second IPL in the UAE. (Twitter)

Dubai - Riyan, during an interview with Khaleej Times, also spoke on his experience of sharing the Royals dressing room with Smith, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer and Jos Buttler

It's hard not to be inspired by Riyan Parag - the 18-year-old Rajasthan Royals batsman whose ice-cool temperament in a tense run chase left many an icon lost for words during last year's Indian Premier League (IPL).
One of Riyan's many admirers is Steve Smith, his captain at Rajasthan Royals.
Having become the youngest player to score a half-century in IPL during the 2019 edition of the cash-rich league, the rising star from Assam is now looking forward to the challenge of playing his second IPL in the UAE.
Riyan, during an interview with Khaleej Times, also spoke on his experience of sharing the Royals dressing room with Smith, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer and Jos Buttler.
Your ability to bat so well under pressure at such a young age earned you lot of admirers last year - Steve Smith, your captain, Sanjay Manjrekar and Harsha Bhogle. Naturally the expectations will be much bigger this year...
Expectations are something I don't believe in. I never think about it too much because, like all players, I am also going to fail in some matches at some point. So when I fail, I am not going to think about these expectations. If I do, it will get the better of me. I think I don't want that to happen. So the best way to deal with expectations is not think about that. So yeah, that's what I do and that's been working for me.

Steve Smith, your captain, says you have a great future. How does it feel to be praised by a modern icon of the game?
Steve Smith, you know, he is so humble - even though he is a legend. What he said about me is just him being humble, you know, showing love for me. It means a lot to me because one of the top batsmen in the world commenting on me, praising me, I think that gives me extra motivation to work even harder, to get even better. So yeah, it's helping me a lot and him saying good things about me feels surreal and it's like a dream come true.
The Royals have a star-studded team with players like Smith, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer (with who you shared a match-winning partnership last year) and Jos Buttler. It must be a terrific experience for you to be sharing the dressing room with these superstars...
Yes, it's like a dream come true to share a dressing room with these legends. You get to learn so much actually, how they handle pressure, how they handle expectations, how they handle different situations. Even if they are doing a net session, I think you can just stand in the corner and you can learn so much from that net session. And to interact with them on a daily basis I think that has helped me improve my game so much and most importantly helped me understand my game. I owe a lot to Rajasthan Royals, and the IPL has given me such a great opportunity to share the dressing room and the field with these legends, I am really grateful for that.

Your father - Parag Das - was a successful first class cricketer. And your mother - Mithu Baruah - is an absolute legend in Assam, who won so many medals at the national and international swimming championships. Their sporting background must have helped you in your journey...
Yes, my parents have been an inspiration for me to go and chase my dreams and play cricket. I think throughout the journey, they have been such a help because as a sportsman, you know you are going to fail almost 60-70 per cent of the time. And how your parents deal with that is a major factor because if I am failing and my parents are shouting at me or discouraging me, that's not going to help at all. But them being athletes, they understand how the journey is. Whenever I fail, I never got any discouragement from my parents and I think that was a big morale booster and it got me to reflect on myself and think that if my parents are believing in me so much, it's about time that I believe in myself too.
Who are your role models in batting?
My role models in batting are Sachin (Tendulkar) Sir and Virat Kohli because I just think that they are on another level.

Self isolating, but not really alone! ?? @ParagRiyan's kids are the perfect quarantine buddies. Here's why. ????#HallaBol | #RoyalsFamily
- Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) August 25, 2020