“When I play domestically, this is the exact type of situation I go in to bat,” Parag told the host broadcaster after the game. “When Jos [Buttler] bhai got out and Ash [R Ashwin] bhai got out a little after, I was like ‘this is what I do, this is what I’ve been doing for the last six months playing domestic cricket’. So it was pretty simple to calculate everything.”
Royals had restricted Mumbai Indians to 125 for 9 but were rocked early by Kwena Maphaka and Akash Madhwal. But Parag carried on unfazed and stitched a 40-run stand with Ashwin to calm down the camp.
Parag had been used primarily as a finisher by Royals in the past, and his returns had been patchy.
“I have had three to four years of not performing at all, or even performing if it’s one match a season,” Parag said. “And you really go back to your hotel room and you think… that when you know you can do something and the performances are not coming, you get back to the drawing [board]. I tried finding what was wrong, and I figured out that I was not practicing at this level enough.
“So I went back after the [last] season and practised very hard, and I think that’s showing now. I’ve practiced [against] these types of quick balls and these kinds of scenarios a lot, hence the performances.”