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'Talk about cricket!’: Why Rajasthan Royals skipper Riyan Parag is furious with IPL commentators & ‘keyboard warriors’ originally appeared on Cricket News. Add Cricket News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
- Riyan Parag requests commentators focus only on cricket and avoid personal criticism of players.
- The RR captain was fined by IPL for using an e-cigarette in the dressing room this season.
- He says four years of scrutiny have taught him to block out noise and protect his mindset.
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Riyan Parag urges commentators to stick to cricket and avoid personal attacks on players
Rajasthan Royals captain Riyan Parag used his post-match press conference after his side's seven-wicket victory over Lucknow Super Giants in Jaipur on Tuesday to deliver a clear and heartfelt message to cricket commentators and television pundits.
Parag has been under the microscope for reasons that go beyond his captaincy and batting this season. Earlier in the IPL, he was fined and formally reprimanded by the IPL governing council after footage emerged of him using an e-cigarette inside the team dressing room during a match.
After that, several comments were made and it was an episode where the discussion shifted from what happened on the field to who he is as a player off it.
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What did Riyan Parag say?
Parag acknowledged in his post-match press conference that players are human and make mistakes like anyone else.
“The sport, which is the country's most important sport, and in which we are the best, should be treated with a little respect. We should only talk about cricket. We should not talk about anything else."
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The Rajasthan skipper also spoke with some maturity about how he has personally dealt with sustained scrutiny over the course of his career.
“I have understood one thing in the last four years — no matter what I do, there will be talks. I have also understood that whatever talks are happening, it shouldn't affect my game, my form or my mindset because keyboard warriors are outsiders,” Parag added.
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(getty)
“We perform according to the expectations of the crowd. So, I feel, we should all love cricket and look at it in the same way. Players are working very hard,” Parag said after the win.
“It is very easy to say, if a team gets all out for 75 or 80 runs, that they do not know how to play or have the mindset to play. But before that game, there is 3-4 days' preparation to ensure how we can score 200-250. But sometimes it doesn't happen.”
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The Cricket News Opinion: Parag is right, and it needed to be said
Cricket coverage in India has a tendency to blur the line between sporting analysis and personal intrusion, particularly when a popular player faces any kind of controversy.
Parag's point is not that players should be immune from criticism, but that the criticism should be about cricket. A dropped catch, a tactical call, an innings that fell apart under pressure, these are legitimate conversations.
What someone does in the dressing room away from the game, or how they conduct their personal life, is rarely the business of a television pundit. The fact that a 24-year-old captain had to make this request in a press conference speaks to a gap in the standards of how the sport is discussed in this country.
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