Riyan Parag to play for India in T20 World Cup? Former Indian all-rounder drops a bold prediction

Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan, who has represented 3 IPL franchises since the 2008 season, has made a very bold prediction about Rajasthan Royals batsman Riyan Parag. After watching the Assam-born cricketer play out his best-ever knock in the Indian Premier League, Pathan was intrigued to say that Parag has all the makings of representing team India shortly.

Irfan Pathan, who is on commentary duty with the Star Sports’ Hindi entourage, was watching over Riyan Parag’s blistering knock very closely. The all-rounder had been noticing the youngster since the time he made his debut for Rajasthan Royals back in 2019. During his initial years, Parag could only show signs of the things to expect from him but last night, he well and truly depicted what he’s capable of.

The 2023 season hadn’t pan out the way he would have wanted but Riyan Parag’s consistent grind and hard work in the domestic circuit has paid dividends in RR’s first two matches this season.

After scoring 43 off 29 during Rajasthan’s opening game against Lucknow Super Giants, Parag carried on with his form last night. He smacked a match-winning as well as a man of the match-winning 84* off 45 which helped Rajasthan post 186 as the target, something at one point was seeming distant.

Irfan Pathan asks youngsters to take inspiration from Riyan Parag

Irfan Pathan was pretty active with his thoughts on X (formerly Twitter) and put out a series of Tweets in appreciation for Parag. The first time Pathan tweeted about him was when the batter amassed 43 in the win against LSG, claiming, “Riyan Parag will have a breakthrough season…”

In the next two years Riyan Parag is playing for India…

— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) March 28, 2024

Pathan defends Riyan Parag after fan comments

In the comment section of his first Tweet about Riyan Parag last night, a fan questioned Irfan Pathan’s judgment so early on in the season. “2 Hi matches hue h sir (It been only 2 matches sir)” – the fan asked. The former all-rounder gave a fitting response by asking, “You don’t follow Indian domestic cricket?”

Irfan was trying to highlight Riyan Parag’s performance in the 2023-24 Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy where he scored 510 runs in 10 innings, averaging 85 with an 183 strike rate.