Assam: Riyan Parag creates history; first from Northeast to don India team colours

Our Sports Reporter

GUWAHATI: Today is a red letter day for cricket in Assam, with the first cricketer from Assam getting the call to don the India team colours.

A new sensation in Indian cricket, Riyan Parag, has been included in the national team for the five-match T20I series against Zimbabwe scheduled from July 6–14. 

With this, the Assam-born cricketer becomes the first ever from the state and also from the entire North East to earn a berth in the men’s senior national team.

Riyan hails from a sports family background. His father, Parag Das, is a former first-class cricketer, and his mother, Mithoo Barooah, is a former national record-holding swimmer in 50m freestyle who represented India at the Asian Championships and SAF Games.

The selection of Riyan, who is currently in Nagpur, has brought immense joy to his father, Parag Das. Talking to The Sentinel over the telephone, Das said, “We were waiting for this day. He has been working very hard since the early part of his career, and with his growing age, we are witnessing a transformed Riyan. I look forward to seeing him contribute runs for the country.”

When asked about Riyan’s reaction to his inclusion in the Indian team, Parag said, “He looks very cool. The reaction was very simple: “Deuta, pai golu (Dad, I got a call from the Indian team).”

Riyan, a batting allrounder, impressed as an Under-19 player during India’s 2017 tour of England, playing alongside Shubman Gill, who will lead the team in Zimbabwe, and Prithvi Shaw, among others. He scored three fifties in four innings in the four-dayers. 

An Under-19 World Cup winner in 2018, Riyan earned his first IPL cap when the Rajasthan Royals signed him ahead of the 2019 season. Although a lean phase followed thereafter in the IPL, he reinvented his batting and came out more confident in 2023, winning the Player-of-the-Series award in the 2023 Deodhar Trophy List A tournament.

He continued good form in the 2023–24 Syed Mushtaq Ali cricket too and scored seven fifties in 10 matches for Assam. Riyan scored 510 runs at an unbelievable average of 85.00 with a stupendous strike rate of 182.79.

However, he kept his best for the IPL 2024 season. Playing for the Rajasthan Royals, the boy from Guwahat delivered consistently with the bat and was the third highest scorer in the tournament. He scored 573 runs in 16 matches at an average of 52.09 and a strike rate of over 149, including four half-centuries with a best score of 84. The batter also smashed 40 boundaries and 33 over boundaries throughout the season and was instrumental in the Rajasthan Royals securing a spot in the playoffs.

Also Read: Riyan Parag's ‘Biased’ Remark: 'Not Interested in Watching T20 World Cup' (sentinelassam.com)

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