'You forget that he was 17...' - RR's assistant coach Shane Bond highly regards star batter Riyan Parag for his outings in IPL 2024

Star Rajasthan Royals batting all-rounder Riyan Parag has impressed everyone with his brilliant batting performances in the ongoing Indian Premier League 2024. The young batter has scored 181 runs in 3 innings of the 3 matches he has played in the tournament, with a sensational average of 181.00, including two unbeaten half-centuries and a highest score of 84.

Currently, he is sharing the top spot with the former RCB skipper Virat Kohli in the list of leading run-scorers of the tournament. Meanwhile, the former New Zealand great and currently the assistant coach of RR, Shane Bond has come up with all praise for the 22-year-old batter for his amazing batting performances in the current season.

He has just matured as a cricketer – Shane Bond about Riyan Parag

Bond also compared Riyan Parag with the World No. 1 T20I batter, Suryakumar Yadav. The former Kiwi stalwart also emphasized the importance of experience for the youngster when it comes to playing a big role.

“He sort of reminds me a little bit of Surya [Suryakumar], who came to Mumbai a few years ago. He looks like that - he has got extreme talent. He has just matured as a cricketer, even though he is only 22,” said Shane Bond during the post-match press conference after the RR registered a comfortable 6-wicket win against MI at the latter’s home ground in Mumbai.

“Riyan started so young, you forget that he was 17 or something, playing in one of the toughest spots in a batting line-up: No. 6. You look at the characters who finish games around the IPL, they are generally pretty experienced guys. The Tim Davids, the David Millers… these are high-quality players who play international cricket. Riyan had been tasked with that for some years. He is still a very young man, but he has got this wealth of experience behind him now,” he added later.