NEW DELHI: Veteran leg-spinner Amit Mishra didn’t mince words as he tore into Rajasthan Royals’ stand-in skipper Riyan Parag following their close loss to Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Thursday.
With Sanju Samson sidelined due to injury, Parag stepped into the leadership role, but the star’s performance, along with his comments post-match, didn’t sit well with Mishra.
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Speaking on Cricbuzz, Mishra was scathing: “You yourself made a mistake in the crunch situation. How can you blame the others? It’s not like you were too far behind the game. You were always in the game. You didn’t lose by 40-50 runs. It was a close match. You could have won with an over to spare if you hadn’t got out at the wrong time. The kind of shots that you are attempting in a crunch situation, those could have been avoided. You should have thought of taking the match deep and finish it.”
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Should Riyan Parag continue as the captain for Rajasthan Royals?
“We did really well with the ball. I thought it was a 210-215 wicket, we held them back really well. Halfway through our innings we were in the driver’s seat. We’ve got ourselves to blame. Didn’t show enough intent against spinners,” Parag had told after the defeat.
Parag had won the toss and opted to bowl, with RCB posting a challenging 205/5.
RR’s chase started brightly with Yashasvi Jaiswal’s fiery 49 off 19 and solid contributions from Dhruv Jurel (47 off 34), but it fell apart in the final overs. Parag’s brief cameo (22 off 10) ended prematurely, and he also dropped a sitter in the field.
RCB’s Josh Hazlewood sealed the match with a brilliant 19th over, snaring two wickets in two balls and conceding just a single run. His efforts restricted RR to 194/9, giving RCB an 11-run win and knocking RR out of playoff contention after their seventh loss in nine games.
Despite Jaiswal and young Vaibhav Suryavanshi laying a solid foundation with a blistering start, RR couldn’t sustain the momentum. Hazlewood’s redemption arc — after being hit around early — highlighted the gulf in composure between the two sides.
