New Delhi. The 22 year old batsman has snatched the orange cap from Virat Kohli. The batsman to whom no one was paying any price before IPL 2024. Whose discussions were more about other things than sports. He has created a stir in the Indian Premier League. The name of this batsman playing for Rajasthan Royals is Riyan Parag. 22-year-old Riyan Parag scored a brilliant half-century against Mumbai Indians in IPL 2024 on Monday. He not only scored a fifty but also returned from the field after making his team win. For this he got the reward in the form of Orange Cap.
There was a match between Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League on Monday. This match took place at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Mumbai Indians, which had lost their first two matches, were expected to start with a win on their home ground. But this did not happen. Thanks to the strong bowling of Trent Boult (3/22), Rajasthan Royals restricted Mumbai to 125 runs for 9 wickets. After this, thanks to Riyan Parag (54 runs on 39 balls), the target was achieved in the 16th over itself.
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Riyan Parag has been playing IPL for six years. Rajasthan Royals included Ryan in their team in 2018 itself, when he was 17 years old. Ryan scored a half-century in his very first season (2019) in the IPL and became the youngest batsman to do so. However, his further journey was not very successful. Riyan Parag himself said, ‘I was not able to perform for three-four years. After playing one or two good innings, runs were not scored.
What Riyan Parag is saying can be understood from his performance in 2023. Riyan Parag of Assam played 7 matches in IPL 2023 and could score only 78 runs. His highest score was 13 runs. Despite this, Rajasthan Royals retained him and from this it can be understood how much confidence the management has in this player. Rajasthan had bought Ryan for the first time at a base price of Rs 20 lakh but his current contract is worth Rs 3.80 crore.
Riyan Parag has completely lived up to this trust in IPL 2024. He has played innings of 43, 84* and 54* runs respectively in three consecutive matches. He returned unbeaten after scoring half-centuries against Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians. In this way, he has now scored 181 runs in IPL after 3 matches. His average is 181 runs and strike rate is 160.17. Virat Kohli has also scored 181 runs after 3 matches, but he is behind Ryan in average (90.5) and strike rate (141.4). Henry Klaasen (167) is at third place in the list of Orange Cap i.e. batsmen who have scored the most runs.
Riyan Parag was injured recently and he met Suryakumar Yadav in NCA. Referring to that meeting, Surya had recently tweeted, ‘I had told that this is not the same Ryan who was earlier. It has matured now. Cricket lovers know that Riyan Parag keeps creating discussions not only in sports but also in other things. The manner in which he celebrated after taking the catch in IPL 2023 was condemned by many people.
Riyan Parag has been a member of India’s Under-19 team. Riyan Parag was also included in the Indian team which won the Under-19 World Cup in 2018. Ryan could have played Ranji Trophy at the age of 14, but then team coach Sanath Kumar and selectors had different opinions. Due to this, Ryan’s wait to play Ranji Trophy increased. Riyan Parag’s father has also been a cricketer and has played Ranji Trophy.
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Tags: IPL 2024, Number Game, Rajasthan Royals, Riyan Parag
FIRST PUBLISHED: April 2, 2024, 06:17 IST