"We make sure to come back for Chennai with a fresher mindset": Riyan Parag after 8 wicket loss to Knight Riders in IPL 2025

Opener Quinton de Kock's marvellous batting performance stormed Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to victory over Rajathan Royals (RR) by eight wickets in the sixth match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati on Wednesday.

With this victory, Knight Riders opened their account in the ongoing 18th edition of the cash-rich league, whereas the Royals have lost both the matches in this competition.

Speaking after the match, Parag hailed KKR wicketkeeper-batter De Kock's performance. De Kock won the Player of the Match award after playing unbeaten innings of 97 runs from 61 balls, which was laced by eight boundaries and six maximums in his innings.

"170 was going to be a really good score, that's what we were aiming for. I personally rushed a little bit knowing the wicket here. We fell short by 20 runs. That was the plan, to get Quinny out early, but that didn't happen. So, we shifted to containing in the middle overs. He played really well, so kudos to him. Last year, the team wanted me to bat No. 4; I was happy to do that. This year, they want me to bat No. 3, so I need to be professional to bat wherever the team wants me to, so I am okay with that," Riyan Parag said in the post-match presentation.

Further, the 23-year-old player said that there is a lot of learning to take from this defeat, and they will use it ahead of their third encounter in the ongoing 18th edition of the cash-rich league.

"We have a younger team this year compared to the one last year. It's just about coming together for a whole match. We are doing very good in small phases. It's time that we put together a good match and then the results are going to be in our favour. We take the learnings, we take our mistakes, we make sure we don't repeat them again and come back for Chennai with a fresher mindset," the Royals' stand-in captain added. (ANI)