After Zimbabwe Tour, Assam’s Riyan Parag in India’s T20 and ODI Team for Sri Lanka Tour

India is slated to play 3 T20 matches and 3 ODI matches in the upcoming tour of Sri Lanka starting on July 27

After being part of the Indian team in the recent Zimbabwe tour where India won the 5 match series 4-1, Assam cricketing sensation Riyan Parag has now made it to the India team for the upcoming Sri Lanka tour starting from July 27.

India team will be touring Sri Lanka for 3 T20 matches and 3 ODI matches starting on July 27.

The T20 squad will be captained by Suryakumar Yadav and the ODI squad will be captained by Rohit Sarma. Riyan Parag will be donning the Indian Jersey in both the T20 and ODI squad. India will play will 3 T20 matches and 3 ODI matches.

The Men’s Selection Committee of BCCI today announced India’s squads for the upcoming tour of Sri Lanka.

T20 squad:

Suryakumar Yadav (C), Ꮪhubman Gill (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rinku Singh, Riyan Parag, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Mohd. Siraj.

ODI Squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Ꮪhubman Gill (VC), Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (WK), Rishabh Pant (WK), Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Riyan Parag, Axar Patel, Khaleel Ahmed, Harshit Rana.

The T20I leg of the series, which will take place in Pallekele, kicks off on July 27th and concludes on July 30th. The ODIs will be played in Colombo, starting August 2.

Riyan Parag’s performance so far

Riyan Parag’s recent performances in the Zimbabwe T20I series has been a mixed bag. In the first match, he managed just two runs off three balls. He didn’t even get a chance to bat in the second match before being dropped from the Playing XI for the third match. However, he was brought back for the final game and managed a slightly better score of 22 runs off 24 deliveries. The selectors value his ability to contribute not just with the bat, but also with his part-time bowling.

A look at Riyan’s career graph:

Riyan first found the opportunity to play for India in the U19 Challenger trophy (2017), and became the highest run-getter in that tournament.

In December 2017, he was named in India’s squad for the 2018 Under-19 Cricket World Cup.

A new sensation in Indian cricket now, Riyan then too had exhibited exceptional skills and tactics against his opponents. In that tour, he played alongside Shubman Gill, and Prithvi Shaw, among others.

Riyan had scored three fifties in four innings in the four-dayers. He finished the two youth Tests in England as India’s second-highest run-getter, after Prithvi Shaw.

His twin fifties in the first-game – including a 33-ball half-century, the second-fastest after Virat Kohli in recorded youth Tests, helped India set up a declaration and paved way for a 334-run victory in Chesterfield. In the second Test, he made a half-century in India’s quest for quick runs, strung a 131-run stand with Shubman Gill for the fourth wicket and set up a 2–0 series win.

Prior to the tour, he finished a bumper season, in which he was the second-highest run-getter in the 2016-17 Cooch Behar Trophy, India’s national four-day tournament for U-19 players, with 642 runs in 14 innings and a best of 202 not out.

Following this, Riyan forayed into the Indian Premier League (IPL).

In December 2018, he was bought by the Rajasthan Royals in the player auction for the 2019 Indian Premier League at his base price of 20 lakhs.

During the 2019 Indian Premier League, he became the youngest cricketer to score a fifty in the history of the Indian Premier League at the age of 17 years and 175 days.

He did so by breaking the previous record of 18 years and 169 days, jointly held by Sanju Samson and Prithvi Shaw.

In the 2022-23 Vijay Hazare Trophy, he was the highest run-getter for Assam and overall the fifth highest across sides in the season, with 552 runs at an average of 69 with three tons and one fifty.

In the 2023 Deodhar Trophy, he was adjudged the Player of the Series for being the highest run-getter, highest six-hitter and third-highest wicket-taker in the tournament.

Riyan continued with his impressive form further and became the highest run -getter and highest six hitter with 510 runs and 40 sixes respectively in the 2023–24 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

In the same season, Parag struck consecutive first-class centuries against Chhattisgarh and Kerala. He scored a total of 378 runs in 2023-24 Ranji Trophy in 6 innings at a batting average of 75.60 and a strike rate of 113.85, along with again becoming the highest six hitter of the tournament with 20 sixes in elite category.

Riyan Parag was the highest run scorer for Rajasthan Royals, in the IPL 2024 season and overall the third highest on the run scoring charts. He scored 573 runs.

Riyan who hails from Guwahati comes from a sports family. 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.

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