Parag focuses on game-time and ‘enjoyable’ on return to aggressive grind

East Zone captain Riyan Parag‘s focus on the season-opening 2025-26 Duleep Trophy was on easing himself again into the grind of aggressive cricket and getting some game-time after he had spent most of final season managing a shoulder damage.

Parag final turned out for India in a T20I in opposition to Bangladesh in October 2024. He needed to endure surgical procedure for his shoulder damage, after which he performed within the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 for Assam in January. Before the Duleep Trophy, Parag had final performed aggressive cricket in IPL 2025 for Rajasthan Royals (RR). He was their second-highest run-scorer throughout the season, however was “managing a lot of stress” because of the shoulder damage.

“It was good,” Parag stated after the ultimate day of the Duleep Trophy game against North Zone. “I mean, that was the main goal when I came here to play the game. Performances, I didn’t really focus on that much. I just wanted to have some fun.

“I have not performed aggressive cricket in a very long time. Since the IPL, I have not actually performed. [In the] IPL additionally, I used to be managing plenty of stress and stuff like that. But it was good, was outing. Not in a great way with the quantity of overs we fielded. But then nonetheless, rolled my arm for a couple of overs, batted for some time. Could have transformed it for an even bigger rating, however then I’m comfortable. The shoulder feels significantly better now.”

Leading the side in the absence of Abhimanyu Easwaran, who was ruled out due to fever on the opening day, Parag was dismissed for 39 in the only innings East Zone batted. He didn’t bowl in the first innings, but bowled 22 overs in the second as North Zone made 658 for 4, building on their first-innings lead of 175.

While the game ended in a draw, North Zone qualified for the semi-finals on the basis of their first-innings lead.

“They performed higher cricket, I obtained to offer credit score to that,” Parag said on North Zone’s performance. “I really feel we may have completed higher within the first innings whereas bowling however then we must always have gotten no less than shut to love 350 after which attempt to limit it.

“But once we did not do that, they had the lead of around 200 runs. Then, just the batters batted really well and just took the game away from us and the last day was just formality, I think, for them to get their milestones.”

East Zone had been with out Mukesh Kumar on day three and 4 after the quick bowler picked up a thigh pressure on the opening day. Mohammed Shami additionally didn’t take the sector on the ultimate day after he lower his toe, which meant East Zone needed to depend on their part-time choices.

“That was one of the tough things to manage,” Parag stated. “Shami bhaiya didn’t bowl today, Mukesh got injured in the first innings, I’m coming back from an injury so I had to bowl 20 overs. Utkarsh [Singh], our non-bowler, he had to bowl around 30 overs so that did play a part for us in fielding a lot of overs but then nothing we can do about it. We just take it as a loss.”

Parag says it is “back to basics” now as he readies himself for the upcoming season. He has been named as one of many stand-bys for the Asia Cup, and is hopeful to get an opportunity when India journey to Australia for a white-ball sequence in October-November.

“I was in the T20 set-up, then took a break for the shoulder [injury], and stuff like that happened,” he stated. “Ranji [Trophy] is coming in, then the Australia tour is coming in; if I get selected there, I do that. Otherwise, I go back to domestic and do what I’ve been doing for the last two to three years. Be top-scoring every single game. Have a good IPL and play for the country again.”

Ankit Kumar: ‘Everyone did their job’

North Zone captain Ankit Kumar was delighted by his crew’s efficiency as they racked up the runs on the final two days. Ankit fell two in need of his maiden first-class double-century within the second innings, however Ayush Badoni recorded an unbeaten 204, whereas Yash Dhull scored 133 on the third day.

Ankit, who changed Shubman Gill as North Zone captain after Gill pulled out resulting from sickness, stated there was “a little pressure” captaining in a giant recreation however was glad he discovered a strategy to rating runs and lead the crew effectively.

“I am captaining at this level for the first time,” Ankit stated. “There weren’t a lot of changes from the Ranji Trophy; we followed the same process: bowl well, bat well. That’s worked for us.

“We had a well-rounded batting and bowling assault. No one may play a giant innings within the first innings, however everybody contributed and that mattered. It was a correct teamwork, so we did not face many challenges. Everyone did their jobs.

“The basic plan was to take a first-innings lead. When that happened, we knew we could qualify. We wanted our bowlers to stay fresh. Arshdeep [Singh] and Harshit [Rana] have to go and play for India, so we wanted them to go fresh [for the Asia Cup].”