Riyan Parag demolishes DC's Anrich Nortje: 4,4,6,4,6; ‘Will play for India in 2 years,’ claims Irfan Pathan

According to Rajasthan Royals' director of cricket, Kumar Sangakkara, the biggest thing the franchise saw in Riyag Parag was his maturity. After witnessing Yashasvi Jaiswal and Dhruv Jurel climb up the ranks at the RR camp, young Parag made a strong case for himself by excelling at the No.4 position in match No.9 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 against the Delhi Capitals (DC) on Thursday. Promoted up the order for the ongoing season, Parag repaid the franchise's faith by registering his career-best score at Jaipur. Rajasthan Royals' Riyan Parag notched up his career-best score against DC(AFP)

Going bonkers in the final over of the Rajasthan Royals' innings, young Parag demolished Delhi Capitals strike bowler Anrich Nortje. Parag deposited a four on the first ball of the final over by toe-ending Nortje's fiery delivery. Finding the gap on the next ball, Parag creamed his second boundary, smoking a handsome six on the third delivery. Slicing the next one, Parag found the gap between two DC players to earn another boundary. Taking the aerial route, Parag fired his second six of the over as Nortje ended up leaking 25 runs in the final over.

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'Riyan Parag is playing for India'

The 22-year-old was lauded for his gutsy knock on social media. Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan predicted that the Assam star will represent India in the next two years. "In the next two years Riyan Parag is playing for India…," Pathan said. "Don’t ever take Indian domestic cricket lightly, it’s for your own good. Look at Riyan Parag. He is performing well in the IPL straightaway cos he made tons of runs there," the ex-India cricketer added.

Parag enjoyed 54 and 52 run-stands with Ravichandran Ashwin (29) and Dhruv Jurel (20) after RR lost Yashasvi Jaiswal (5), Jos Buttler (11) and skipper Sanju Samson (15) inside the first seven overs. Batting at a strike rate of 186.67, Parag remained unbeaten on 84 off 45 balls to help RR post 185-5 in 20 overs. Parag fired six sixes and seven fours in his entertaining knock against Delhi Capitals. The RR youngster was also named the Player of the Match.

‘Sanju bhai told me to…’

“I have put in a lot of practice, I've practised against those kind of (bowling of Nortje). I had my options ready for both sides of the wicket - I was backing mys strengths, I know I had the power, it's good when it comes off. Sanju bhai told me to take it deep, I was confident that I could get a lot of runs. It wasn't easy for a new batter to come and score, you needed someone to stay until the end. It's been tough, I'm a bit emotional now, I have worked hard and seeing the fruits of it now,” Parag said.

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