Rajasthan Royals’ head coach Rahul Dravid recently came forward and talked about the decision to let stand-in skipper Riyan Parag bat up the order in the recent IPL 2025 matches after ongoing discussions on his form.
Rajasthan Royals have gotten off to a horrid start to the IPL 2025 campaign. The side took on Sunrisers Hyderabad in their first game of the season where they were defeated comfortably. Furthermore, Kolkata Knight Riders made light work of the inaugural champions in the subsequent game.
With RR all set to take on Chennai Super Kings in their next game, many have come forward and questioned the side’s decision to let Riyan Parag bat at No.3 despite the star batter excelling at No.4 in the IPL 2024. With the ongoing discussions, Royals’ head coach Rahul Dravid took centre stage and backed Parag’s decision to bat in at 3.
“Look, Riyan [Parag] is one of our best batters, let’s be honest. And we want to give him as many balls as we possibly can. Twenty overs is a very short time and the more balls Riyan Parag bats for us, the better it is for us as a team,” Dravid was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
“But honestly, the move to No. 3 was a positive move to try and give him more time to bat. And we know how destructive a player he is and if he gets more time, then he can score more runs and that can benefit the team. And I think he’s quite comfortable, he’s more than capable of batting at any position,” he added.
Furthermore, Dravid went on to heap praise on Riyan Parag’s quality as the leader of the side. It is worth noting that Parag was named RR’s captain for the first three games as Sanju Samson was playing as a pure batter. “I think he’s adapted really well. As a captain, it’s nice for him to get this opportunity till Sanju is able to field again. And he’s sharing his thoughts and his ideas. Very clear. He’s very solid in that sense,” Dravid said.
