Got a chance in two matches, failed every time, this player will not return to Team India now!
Team India's Zimbabwe tour was an opportunity for many young players to prove themselves but not everyone was successful in it and at the top of the name is all-rounder Riyan Parag, who made his debut in this series but could not make any impact in the opportunities he got.
Riyan Parag failed in both the matches.Image Credit: PTI
After winning the T20 World Cup 2024, Team India immediately took to the field. The only difference was that the players of the team that became champions under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma were away from this action. Team India, full of young and new players, was on a tour of Zimbabwe, where 5 T20 matches were played. This series was a good opportunity to test new players, in which some completely new players were also included. Now Abhishek Sharma impressed a lot in this, but it proved to be a complete failure for that player, who was under a lot of scrutiny, who is constantly in the news due to his performance and talks. This player is - Riyan Parag.
Riyan Parag, who performed brilliantly with the bat for Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2024, was selected by the BCCI selection committee for the Zimbabwe series. This was the first time that 24-year-old Riyan Parag got a call from Team India. After his strong performance in the IPL, there was every possibility of him being selected for such a series. This happened and Riyan got a chance to debut in the very first match of the series. In this way, he became the first male cricketer to play international cricket from Assam.
Riyan Parag disappointed
Now it remains to be seen how Riyan takes advantage of this opportunity and stakes his claim for the future. The first match was bad for the entire Indian team and Riyan Parag could not do anything to save the team stuck in a difficult situation. Then he was out after scoring just 2 runs in 3 balls. Even after this, he got a chance in the next match but this time he did not get to bat. Rinku Singh was promoted in his place who scored 48 runs in 22 balls. Then he was dropped from the next two matches because Sanju Samson and Yashasvi Jaiswal returned to Team India.
Now the team had won the series in the fourth match, so in the last match, Riyan Parag again returned to the playing eleven. Once again Team India soon lost 3 wickets of the top order and here again Riyan had a chance to prove himself. Riyan made a good partnership with his IPL captain Sanju Samson and added 65 runs but Riyan's contribution was not good and he was also out in the 15th over. In his 24-ball innings, Riyan could score only 22 runs.
Will there be no return to Team India now?
He hit a great six of 107 meters but this was the only shot that was the highlight of his innings. Now after this performance, it is certain that he is not going to return to Team India anytime soon. India has to play the next T20 series against Sri Lanka from July 27 but there is no possibility of Ryan being selected in it. Firstly, his performance also does not support this. Second, senior players of World Cup winning Team India like Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav will return for this series. That means Ryan may have to wait for some time to return.