March 27, 2025: After Rajasthan Royals (RR) suffered an eight-wicket defeat to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in their second match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, stand-in captain Riyan Parag remained optimistic and focused on the team’s learning from the loss. The match, which took place at Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati on Wednesday, saw Quinton de Kock lead KKR to victory with a spectacular unbeaten 97 off 61 balls, including eight boundaries and six sixes.
Following the loss, Parag acknowledged KKR’s dominant performance and lauded De Kock’s brilliant knock. “170 was going to be a really good score, that’s what we were aiming for,” Parag said in the post-match presentation. “I personally rushed a little bit knowing the wicket here. We fell short by 20 runs. That was the plan, to get Quinny out early, but that didn’t happen. So, we shifted to containing in the middle overs. He played really well, so kudos to him.”
RR’s total of 170 runs seemed like a competitive score, but KKR chased it down comfortably, propelled by De Kock’s match-winning innings. Parag also reflected on his role in the batting lineup, stating, “Last year, the team wanted me to bat No. 4; I was happy to do that. This year, they want me to bat No. 3, so I need to be professional to bat wherever the team wants me to, so I am okay with that.”
The 23-year-old expressed that there was a lot of learning to take from the defeat, particularly in terms of execution during key moments. “We have a younger team this year compared to the one last year,” he added. “It’s just about coming together for a whole match. We are doing very good in small phases. It’s time that we put together a good match and then the results are going to be in our favour.”
Despite the loss, Parag remained confident that the team will bounce back. “We take the learnings, we take our mistakes, we make sure we don’t repeat them again and come back for Chennai with a fresher mindset,” he concluded, looking ahead to their next challenge against five-time IPL champions, Chennai Super Kings (CSK).