Riyan Parag (Rajasthan Royals Captain): "[Lots of ups and downs, tonight, it's an up, but still, haven't seen you smile at a post-match presentation?] Yeah, a good game. Again, I think I like to be a perfectionist. I know it's not going to be a perfect game altogether. But even today, we should have gotten 260, right? So a bit to work on that. How to finish off innings after we get a start like Vaibhav did. But with the ball, I think I was really impressed. I think we held our calm. They got a lot of runs in the second over, or the first, once Ishan and Travis added a few boundaries, but I think we came back really well and put in a good performance altogether.
[What are the conversations with Vaibhav?] That's the thing, we don't have any conversations.
[Just leave Vaibhav alone?] Yeah, just leave him alone, let him go and have fun. He likes batting, like I've said before, so we get him a lot of batting practice at the nets and stuff like that. And then he goes out and does his thing.
[Does it really help them with their last two games being a sort of knockout?] You could say that, but then I feel it just brings out a little bit more from people as well. I feel that when everything's on the line, everyone works really hard towards it. And even during the season, I don't think it would be fair to say we were more energised or more focused because the game was on the line, because the season was on the line. Everyone's done that throughout the season, but especially in the last two games, everyone just turned up a little bit more.
[Does he demand anything from Archer, or does he just leave Archer to do his thing?] No, we keep on having fun little banters. I feel the first ball he bowled to Abhishek that I almost got a catch, but that was wide. So I went up to Jofra. I was like, Joff – "I need you to be a little straighter." And then he gets the wicket, and he asks me, smiling – "Is that straight enough for you?" So I feel he's one of the best, if not the best, in world cricket. And I feel when he's bowling 150 clicks, you don't ask him to bowl slow. You don't ask him to do anything. You just remind him, if at all, he needs any reminding; otherwise, he just does his job.
[Plans for tomorrow] I think rest tomorrow. We've had a great day. Everyone's gotten a bat inside, and everyone's gotten a bowl as well. So I feel rest, recover. I'll definitely be recovering. I won't be practising. So once that's done, GT's next.
[Maybe we will have this conversation again] Hopefully, we do."