Rajasthan Royals’ teenager Riyan Parag became the youngest player at 17 years and 175 days to score a half-century in the Indian Premier League when he got to the milestone against Delhi Capitals at the Feroz Shah Kotla on Saturday.
Young Parag (50 off 49, 4x4s, 2x6s) was the lone bright spot for Rajasthan as he held on to one end and notched up his first IPL fifty to take the visitors close to the 120-run mark against DC.
Rajasthan had a disastrous start after opting to bat as they were reduced to 30 for four at the end of the first six overs of powerplay with Ishant Sharma doing the bulk of the damage.
Parag and Shreyas Gopal tried to stabilise the innings with a 27-run fifth-wicket stand before Mishra picked up two wickets in consecutive deliveries in the 12th over to disturb Rajasthan’s resistance.
After Amit Mishra picked up three wickets to further dent Royals, it was left to Parag to add some respectability to the total. The Assam teenager, after a watchful start, opened up late and smacked Ishant for two fours to pick up 18 runs off the 17th over and then smashed Boult for two sixes in the final over before being dismissed in the last ball of the innings.
Saw another dimension to Riyan Parag's cricket and it was very good to see. #GemFromAssam
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) May 4, 2019
Riyan Parag, youngest player to score a #VivoIPL halfcentury. He has such a gr8 temperament. Looks a natural ball striker, but paced his innings well on a difficult pitch today. 17yr old showing older colleagues the way. An exciting group of young Indian players coming through.
— ian bishop (@irbishi) May 4, 2019
Youngest at the time of maiden IPL fifty:
— Deepu Narayanan (@deeputalks) May 4, 2019
17y 175d Riyan Parag (2019) *
18y 169d Sanju Samson (2013)
18y 169d Prithvi Shaw (2018)
18y 212d Rishabh Pant (2016)
18y 237d Shubman Gill (2018)#DCvRR #RR
Something special about Riyan Parag. All of 17 but batting like he’s been playing at this level for 17 years... #DCvRR
— Jatin Sapru (@jatinsapru) May 4, 2019
Riyan Parag has been super impressive. Maturity belies his age. And it’s baffling how #RR struggled to find a higher batting slot for him....even in the absence of Buttler and Smith. #DCvRR #IPL
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) May 4, 2019
Riyan Parag is the find of IPL19 would you say?
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) May 4, 2019
Riyan Parag playing in accordance with the old adage in cricket. Stay at the crease, runs will come. Well played again. 👍 #RR #DC #DCvsRR
— RK (@RK_sports) May 4, 2019
I love the 'Gamusa,' the traditional Assamese cloth Riyan Parag has on his waistband while playing. Proudly carrying a little piece of Assam to the IPL. pic.twitter.com/9F3KAKSsFh
— Joy Bhattacharjya (@joybhattacharj) May 4, 2019
Riyan Parag is the youngest player to score an IPL fifty, at 17 years and 175 days old. Parag's Attack rating of 160 was the second highest of the innings but he only played 11% false shots - the least of all players in the innings. Positivity & control. @rajasthanroyals #IPL
— The CricViz Analyst (@cricvizanalyst) May 4, 2019
RIYAN PARAG DESERVES A BETTER TEAM. #DCvRR
— Monica (@monicas004) May 4, 2019
(With PTI inputs)