Riyan Parag (Image credit: BCCI/IPL) NEW DELHI: When Riyan Parag came into the match after being fined 25% of his match fee and handed one point for breaching Level 1 of the IPL Code of Conduct – for using vape in the dressing room – when he came out to bat against Delhi Capitals, he made sure to avoid controversy.The Rajasthan Royals captain looked ominous and smashed a magnificent half-century. He looked set for a well-deserved hundred but fell short and scored a brilliant 90 off 50 balls, including eight fours and five sixes, to power his side to 225/6 in 20 overs.However, despite the strong total, Delhi Capitals snapped their three-match losing streak with an impressive seven-wicket win.Parag made it clear after the match that outside criticism does not bother him, but his primary responsibility is to deliver results to the team.“I don’t think I have to answer any critics or anybody who talks about it. But at the end of the day, my job is to get two points. So my score and my innings don’t really matter if we lose the match,” Parag said after the match.A stunning 110-run opening stand between KL Rahul (75 off 40) and Pathum Nissanka (62 off 33) laid the perfect foundation for a record-breaking 226-run chase which was calmly completed by Tristan Stubbs (18*) and Ashutosh Sharma (25*) with five balls to spare.“I think it was a good score. I thought 200 was a par score here. It’s going to slow down a bit but I think we could have played a lot better in the middle overs, not let them slip away too much. And then a lot of boundaries in one over and it kept happening. So I felt we missed the trick but the decision we made didn’t hurt us,” said Parag.Parag was earlier fined 25% of his match fee and awarded a forfeit point after he was caught vaping in the dressing room during his side’s match against Punjab Kings.He pleaded guilty and accepted the sanction imposed by match referee Amit Sharma.Parag was found to have breached Article 2.21 of the IPL Code of Conduct, which deals with “behaviour which brings the game into disrepute”. The incident occurred during the second shift when he was seen using a vape inside the locker room.
