'Take The Reality Check': How Virat Kohli's Rescue Act Helped India A Star Tide Through Bad Phase

Indian all-rounder Riyan Parag has made head turn with his blistering performance with the bat during the recently-concluded Deodhar Trophy. After back-to-back centuries in the quarter-final and semi-final, Parag smashed a brilliant 95 in a losing cause, with East Zone chasing 329 against South Zone in the final. With 354 runs and 11 wickets in the bag, Parag was named player of the tournament, despite his team losing in the final. Parag was on the receiving end of some harsh criticism after he had a miserable outing in the last edition of IPL and was brutally trolled by the fans and former cricketers for his flop show.

Following his all-round show in the Deodhar Trophy, Parag has revealed the advice of his idol, Virat Kohli, whose photo he has put as WhatsApp profile picture, and how it helped him to overcome the bad phase.

"But during the tough times in the IPL, he sounded out the advice of his idol, Virat Kohli, whose picture he has put as WhatsApp profile picture. "Mai puri baat nahi bata paunga (I cannot tell you the exact conversation). He told me 'something that has worked for half a year cannot be wrong after a few failures. What happens in the IPL is that the tournament goes on so fast that after failing in two games, you start to question yourself. Everyone makes mistakes and I have made tons of them. Two-three games don't go your way and you feel (the need) to change your process and work ethic," Parag told Indian Express in an interview.

Parag recalled that Kohli told him to take the difficult phase as a "reality check", and also advised him to follow the process.

"It was him telling me that 'take the reality check and accept that this is a bad phase but it doesn't mean that you need to change the process