Arshdeep Singh shows Riyan Parag his place, brings him to ground with furious send-off in Duleep Trophy

If it weren't for the white clothes and the red ball, it would have been extremely difficult to differentiate between the India A vs India D Duleep Trophy second-round match and a T20 fixture till Riyan Parag was at the crease. As Laxman Sivaramakrishnan rightly said in commentary, there are two ways to look at such an innings, and generally, it depends on the outcome. Till the strokes come off, they act like an adrenaline shot, leaving you secretly desiring for more. But the moment your life by the sword gives way to death, it all looks flashy and unnecessary. Sometimes, even reckless for a four-day game where the stakes are high.

But if one has followed Riyan Parag's career closely, then he would know that these things hardly matter to him. He is the Gen Z of cricket. And this doesn't mean he hasn't read the orthodox cricket manual. It's just that he doesn't think much before going away from it.

This Duleep Trophy, he has gone away from it quite often. But the problem is, he hasn't found much success with it. It has looked exciting while it lasted but his brisk cameos have lacked recall value in the larger context. The Day 1 of the India A vs India D match in Anantapur was no different.

Parag, who scored attractive 30 and 31 in the first match against India B, came out all guns blazing against India D. The Rajasthan Royals cricketer started his innings with a straight six against India D's fastest bowler, Vidwath Kaverappa, that would surely be the headline of the highlight package.

Parag was particularly severe on India international Arshdeep Singh, hitting the left-arm pacer for three boundaries in one over to get off to a flyer.

Arshdeep's tactical comeback brings aggressive result against Riyan parag

Needless to say, Arshdeep did not like the assault on him carried out by Parag. He came out charging in the next over, trying to pepper Parag with short-pitched deliveries but the Assam all-rounder was up for it. He got underneath one of the bouncers and ramped it over the slip cordon for another boundary, which added to Arshdeep's frustration.

In between, Parag had played some more attacking shots against off-spinner Saransh Jain. It was clear that he it was either going to be his way or the highway. For the initial few overs, it did look it will be Parag's way. Till Arshdeep showed his class by changing his plan.

The two and a half years that Arshdeep has spent at the international circuit, cementing his place in the T20Is, has taught him how to come back from such an assault. In the middle of his second over to Parag, he went back to Test-match length instead of trying fancy things. He bowled a couple of good length balls, not allowing Parag to free his arms and then got one to go with the angle off the same length. Parag, who was hellbent on stamping his authority, got sucked into it. He flashed at it with hard hands, got an outside edge and was taken at second slip by Devdutt Padikkal.

Arshdeep was pumped. He screamed and hurled a few words to give a send-off to Parag, who took the long walk back after scoring another flash-in-the-pan 37 off 29 balls.