Riyan Parag’s 48-ball 76 went in vain as Rajasthan Royals (RR) lost their first game of IPL 2024 when they hosted Gujarat Titans (GT) in match 24 on Wednesday (April 10) at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium, Jaipur. With RR making 196-3, along with skipper Sanju Samson also being unbeaten on 68 (38), Shubman Gill-led Gujarat chased down the score on the final ball with Rashid Khan’s 11-ball 24* providing the finishing touch after their captain’s sublime 72.

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Nonetheless, Parag continued his good form in the ongoing edition. He has already registered three fifty-plus scores in IPL 2024 and is second on the Orange Cap list, after Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) Virat Kohli — who tops the list with 316 runs. Thus, former Indian opener-turned-commentator Sunil Gavaskar lavished huge praise on Parag and urged him to continue his purple patch as an India call-up might not be far away. The youngster, from Assam, is coming into this year’s IPL on the back of a brilliant run in domestic cricket.

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Gavaskar told Star Sports after RR lost to GT, “Riyan Parag made Gujarat pay for those lapses. That’s what cricket is all about. You get an opportunity and you make the most of it. And he has made the most of it. He is playing some unbelievable cricket.”

‘He is someone that the selection committee has got an eye on’

He added, “Not just in the IPL, but right through the season, he has had enormous success. He is someone that the selection committee has got an eye on. And so all he needs to do is keep on batting the way he has been. His fielding, we all know about it, he is an excellent fielder. And he can bowl a few of those dribbly-dobblies, I call them mixed pakodas.”

Parag has 261 runs from five games in IPL 2024. He has been RR’s crisis man this season, showing a lot of maturity while batting in different situations. It is to be noted that since his IPL debut in 2019, the Assam star made only 2 fifties across 5 seasons. However, the 2024 IPL season is proving to be a career-defying one for the Assamese youngster and he will be eager to continue in a similar stead in the upcoming games.

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