Ahmedabad, April 5 Former Indian pacer Irfan Pathan believes that the bold decisions taken by Riyan Parag in the final moments of Rajasthan Royals' thrilling win over Gujarat Titans will significantly boost his confidence as a leader.
Parag, who took over the captaincy for RR this season, made a key tactical decision in the final moments, handing Jofra Archer the 19th over while entrusting Tushar Deshpande with the last one.
"This was the best game of the season so far. It was very important for Rajasthan that Riyan Parag commands respect while leading the side," Pathan said on JioStar.
"He made that difficult decision in the last over, and that decision went in favour of Rajasthan, which will give him a lot of confidence as a leader. He went to Jofra Archer to bowl that 19th over, and generally, you go with your more experienced bowler in the penultimate over."
Archer justified the move with a superb over, conceding just four runs and effectively stopping Gujarat's chase. Deshpande then held his nerve to defend 10 runs in the final over as Rajasthan Royals edged out Gujarat Titans by six runs.
"Jofra used his experience, used his pace, and didn't give any room to either Rabada or Rashid Khan, who were going strong. That over set it up nicely for Tushar Deshpande, because if GT had gotten 10 runs off it, the game would have been done then. It was a special over from Jofra."
"And credit to Tushar Deshpande, who held his nerve and bowled accurate yorkers, one after the other, to get his side home," Pathan added.
Gujarat Titans, on the other hand, continue to rely heavily on their top three of Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill and Jos Buttler to shoulder the scoring responsibility.
Former India spinner R Ashwin noted that Sai Sudharsan stepped up in Gill's absence against RR.
Opening the innings, Sudharsan scored a 44-ball 73 to give his team a perfect platform to chase 211. However, a cluster of wickets in the middle saw them lose the game by six runs.
"Sai Sudharsan knew that Shubman wasn't playing today, so he had to do the heavy lifting himself. The way he started showed that he understands his strengths. He used pace well, guiding the ball towards third man, and then played some good cover drives on the front foot," Ashwin said.
"He took on Jadeja immediately after he came into the attack, made use of the pace, and followed it up with a slog sweep. These are the strong areas for Sudharsan, which he relies on, and he got the results.
"He needs to play like this, carry the innings, but at a good tempo. And for the Gujarat Titans, missing Shubman Gill was a big setback. So obviously, when Shubman returns, this opening combination will be key for them going forward, yet again," he added.