"If you want to eat grilled chicken, I can’t afford that"- Riyan Parag on his tough early cricketing days

Riyan Parag's inspiration to take up cricket professionally was his father Parag Das, who had played cricket at the state level for Assam.

There has been a lot of talk about how Riyan has got his chances easily, but the all-rounder slammed such suggestions by explaining the humble background he came from. The youngster opened up on how tough it was for him as a part of a middle-class family to pursue the dream of playing cricket for India one day.

Speaking to cricket.com, here's what Riyan Parag had to say about his early cricketing days:

"I started playing cricket because my dad was playing cricket. I saw that and fell in love with the game. He asked me if I wanted to play cricket for India or casually. I was a big foodie, if you want to eat butter chicken, if you want to eat grilled chicken, I can’t afford that. We were a middle-class family, we used to stay in the Railway quarters, where MS Dhoni also stayed. Whenever it rained, it used to flood. We were a proper middle-class family."

He further added:

“I said there’s no way I was going to leave it at that, I definitely wanted to play for the country and afford the things I have wanted in life. At ten years old, I have never counted myself out of playing for the country, but I have doubted myself. That’s a big mistake to listen to people and their opinions.”

---

Riyan Parag on being judged for enjoying the game

Riyan Parag has often been criticized by former cricketers and some commentators for his on-field celebrations and antics. However, the youngster gave the example of star batter Virat Kohli and explained why he wanted to make the most of each moment.

On this, Riyan stated:

"If you look at Virat now, he’s having the best time of his life playing cricket. The amount of fun he’s having, that’s cricket. I have had to curtail the fun part of my game because a lot is happening outside it. With these performances, I hope that I can enjoy the game and not be judged by it.”

Although Riyan Parag wasn't quite able to produce the goods for India A in the Emerging Asia Cup 2023, he has smashed back-to-back hundreds for East Zone in the Deodhar Trophy and continues to show his potential.