The IPL 2019 hasn’t been bereft of fantastic feats. There’s constantly some feat or the other that a player is registering to leave a sizable mark on the tournament. On the one hand, Delhi Capitals have broken their own record, reaching the playoffs for the first time in a decade, the likes of Shimron Hetmyer, only 22, have finally created a space for themselves. Who can forget the 47-ball-75 that the Guyanese scored for RCB against Rajasthan on May 4?
But in that same regard, IPL 2019 has finally seen a record that perhaps none may have expected, especially in the closing stages of the fancy tournament, coming from a team that’s already found it at the exit gate?
In becoming the youngest-ever scorer of a fifty, Rajasthan Royal’s Riyan Parag, who is all of 17, has become the darling of the media, and a national headline-maker.
Riyan Parag seemed in great form throughout the contest against the Delhi Capitals, a team that’s finally made it to the IPL 2019 playoffs, albeit in stark contrast to the Ajinkya Rahane-led side.
In an interesting contest that produced no more than 236 runs, it appeared that Riyan Parag had a significant portion of those, as he notched up a vital fifty in the form of 49-ball-50 that included 4 boundaries and 2 sixes.
In so doing, Riyan Parag lit the IPL 2019 for his fantastic feat meant that an utterly inexperienced, no more than 17 was able to collect vital runs when it seemed that a tight lid had been put on RR’s scoring, with the likes of Rahane, Livingston, Samson, Gopal contributing no more than 2, 14, 5, and 12.
But if you thought that the above suffices to describe the importance and depth of Riyan Parag’s effort in the ongoing IPL 2019, then think again.
NDTV, in its appreciation of the young Odisha-born batsman’s feat happened to share the following:
“The kid learns really quickly and that is a sign of a really good player and someone who has a great future,” Steve Smith had said about Riyan Parag.
So far, in seven IPL 2019 games, Riyan Parag has scored 160 runs at an average of 32.
Riyan Parag, who hails from Assam, is one of the most promising cricketers in the ongoing IPL and was a part of the India Under-19 side for the two youth Tests in England.
Above anything else, that Riyan Parag in the process of becoming the youngest fifty-maker in any IPL also happened to break the record of Sanju Samson, interestingly his teammate in Rajasthan Royals made for quite a unique feat.