Riyan Parag (born 10 November 2001) is an Indian international

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er who plays for the India national team. He is a batting all rounder, who bats right-handed in the middle-order and bowls both right-arm

leg spin Leg spin is a type of spin bowling in cricket. A bowler who uses this technique is called a leg spinner. Leg spinners bowl with their right-arm and a wrist spin action. The leg spinner's normal delivery is called a leg break, which spins fr ...

and

off spin Off spin is a type of spin bowling in cricket. A bowler who uses this technique is called an off spinner. Off spinners bowl with their right-arm and a finger spin action. Their normal delivery is called an off break, which spins from left to r ...

. In May 2025, he became the first and only batsman to hit six consecutive sixes in the 17 year history of the IPL. He was a part of the

team A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interdependent with respect to in ...

that won the 2018 U19 World Cup. He plays for

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

in domestic cricket and

Rajasthan Royals The Rajasthan Royals, also known as RR, are a professional Twenty20 cricket team based in Jaipur, Rajasthan, that competes in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Founded in 2008 as one of the initial eight franchises, the team is owned by Manoj ...

in the

Indian Premier League The Indian Premier League (IPL) is a professional Twenty20 (T20) cricket league in India, organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Founded in 2007, it features ten city-based Professional sports league organization, fr ...

. Riyan is the second youngest player to score a 50 in the IPL after Vaibhav Suryavanshi.

Personal life and background

Riyan's father,

Parag Das Parag Das (born 29 October 1976) is a former first-class cricketer who has represented Assam cricket team, Assam, Railways cricket team, Railways and East Zone cricket team. He is a right-handed batsman who bowled right-arm medium pace. Das mad ...

is a former first-class cricketer who has represented

Railways Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to roa ...

, Dighalipukhuri and

East Zone cricket team The East Zone cricket team is a first-class cricket team that represents eastern India in the Duleep Trophy and Deodhar Trophy. It is a composite team of six first-class Indian teams from eastern India competing in the Ranji Trophy: Assam, Biha ...

. Parag Das and former captain of team

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

MS Dhoni Mahendra Singh Dhoni (; born 7 July 1981) is an Indian professional cricketer who plays as a right-handed batter and a wicket-keeper. Widely regarded as one of the most prolific wicket-keeper batsmen and captains and one of the greatest O ...

featured in Railways' tournaments together in

Kharagpur Kharagpur () is a semi- planned urban agglomeration and a major industrial city in the Paschim Medinipur district of West Bengal, India. It is the headquarters of the Kharagpur subdivision and the largest city of the district. It is located 1 ...

and

Guwahati Guwahati () the largest city of the Indian state of Assam, and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the seat of the Government of Assam. Th ...

. They have also played against each other in the

Ranji Trophy The Ranji Trophy is a premier domestic first-class cricket championship played in India and organized annually by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The teams representing regional and state cricket associations participate. BCCI ...

, when Dhoni turned up for Jharkhand. On Riyan's IPL debut, Dhoni was keeping wickets and captaining the opposition. His mother, Mithoo Barooah, is a former national record-holding

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

in the 50m freestyle who represented India at the

Asian Championships An Asian Championship is a top level international sports competition between Asian athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. List of championships (Summer Olympic Sports) ;Aquatics and wate ...

and

SAF Games The South Asian Games is a quadrennial multi-sport event held among athletes from South Asia. The South Asia Olympic Council, which was formed in 1983, governs it. The Games consist of seven countries, namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Ne ...

. The year 1985 was a landmark in her career, as she achieved an unprecedented feat for any swimmer from Assam—male or female—by winning a Silver medal in the 50m breaststroke at the Asian Age Group Championship. In 1990, she set a National Junior record in the 100m breaststroke, followed by a National record in the 50m freestyle at the 1993 National Games in

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

. In 1991, she competed in the South Asian Federation Games, securing two

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

s, one silver, and one bronze. Mithoo Barooah's cousin is the

multilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolin ...

singer

Zubeen Garg Zubeen Garg (born Zubeen Borthakur ; 18 November 1972) is an Indian singer–songwriter, composer, lyricist, music director, music producer, actor, film director, film producer, screenwriter, poet and philanthropist. He primarily works for and ...

Domestic career

As a 14-year-old, Riyan Parag could have been the youngest first-class debutant in India, but for the Assam selectors, who were not on the same page as the state's then coach

Sanath Kumar Sanath Kumar (born 12 December 1962) is a former Indian first-class cricketer and the former head coach of Assam, Karnataka and Baroda. Kumar played for Karnataka cricket team from 1985/86 to 1988/89. He identified the potential of Hardik P ...

. Riyan made his

Twenty20 Twenty20 (abbreviated T20) is a shortened format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the county cricket, inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two t ...

debut for

in the 2016–17 Inter State Twenty-20 Tournament on 29 January 2017. He made his first-class debut for Assam in the

2017–18 Ranji Trophy The 2017–18 Ranji Trophy was the 84th season of the Ranji Trophy, the premier first-class cricket tournament that took place in India between October 2017 and January 2018. Vidarbha won the tournament, beating Delhi by 9 wickets in the final, ...

on 17 November 2017. With that debut, he became India's first FC cricketer born in 21st century. He was the leading run-scorer for Assam in the

2018–19 Vijay Hazare Trophy The 2018–19 Vijay Hazare Trophy was the 26th edition of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, an annual List A cricket tournament in India. Karnataka were the defending champions. It was contested by 37 domestic cricket teams of India, starting on 19 Se ...

, with 248 runs in seven matches. Riyan Parag is said to have played a significant role in helping

reach the semifinals of both the 2022-23 Vijay Hazare Trophy and

2023–24 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy The 2023–24 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy was the sixteenth edition of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, an annual Twenty20 tournament in India. Played from 16 October to 6 November 2023, it was contested by all 38 Ranji Trophy teams and won by Punjab, ...

, and East Zone making the finals of the 2023 Deodhar Trophy. In the 2022-23 Vijay Hazare Trophy, he was the highest run-getter for Assam and overall the fifth highest across sides in the season, with 552 runs at an average of 69 with three tons and one fifty. Coming in to bat at number four, he notched blistering centuries against

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to: * Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory since 2019 * Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered by India as a state from 1952 to 2019 * Jammu and Kashmir (prin ...

and

Sikkim Sikkim ( ; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Koshi Province of Nepal in the west, and West Bengal in the ...

, and an unbeaten fifty against

Vidarbha Vidarbha (Pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, �id̪əɾbʱə is a geographical region in the west Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Forming the eastern part of the state, it comprises Amravati Division, Amrav ...

. He also took 10

wicket In the sport of cricket, the term wicket has several meanings: * It is either of the two sets of three Stump (cricket), stumps and two Bail (cricket), bails at each end of the Cricket pitch, pitch. The Fielding (cricket), fielding team's playe ...

s in the season with his leg-break bowling. In the quarter finals of the tournament chasing a mammoth 351 against

, he scored 174 off 116 balls, an innings that was studded with a dozen sixes and an equal number of fours. In one of the group stage matches of the first-class 2022-23 Ranji Trophy tournament playing against

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

, Riyan struck 78 off 28 balls with the bat in the 2nd innings apart from picking up an eight wicket match-haul with his leg break bowling to help his team clinch a closely fought contest by 18 runs. In the 2023 Deodhar Trophy, he was adjudged the Player of the Series for being the highest run-getter, highest six-hitter and third-highest wicket-taker in the tournament. He scored a total of 354 runs in the tournament at a

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

of 88.50 and snapped 11

s at a

bowling average In cricket, a player's bowling average is the number of runs they have conceded per wicket taken. The lower the bowling average is, the better the bowler is performing. It is one of a number of statistics used to compare bowlers, commonly use ...

of 19.09. Riyan Parag surpassed

Yusuf Pathan Yusuf Khan Pathan ( born 17 November 1982) is an Indian former cricketer and politician of the Trinamool Congress. Pathan made his debut in first-class cricket in 2001/02. He was a right-handed batsman and a right-arm off-break bowler. His youn ...

’s record of nine sixes for West Zone against North Zone (2010), to record the most sixes in an innings in the tournament's history by smashing 11 sixes against North Zone. Parag struck centuries against West Zone and North Zone. In the final of the tournament playing for East Zone against South Zone, Riyan scored a 65 ball 95 after coming to bat when his team was tottering at 72 for 4 chasing an imposing target of 329. He then became the highest run -getter and highest six hitter with 510 runs and 40 sixes respectively in the

. He managed to top the run scoring charts for the second tournament in a row in Indian domestic cricket. He amassed the runs at a

of 85 and a strike rate of 182.79, along with being the first cricketer to score seven consecutive half centuries in T20 cricket. His record-breaking seven consecutive half-centuries came against

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

Chandigarh Chandigarh is a city and union territory in northern India, serving as the shared capital of the states of Punjab and Haryana. Situated near the foothills of the Shivalik range of Himalayas, it borders Haryana to the east and Punjab in the ...

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; Sanskrit: ''himācāl prādes;'' "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a States and union territories of India, state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen Indian Himalayan ...

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

Services Service may refer to: Activities * Administrative service, a required part of the workload of university faculty * Civil service, the body of employees of a government * Community service, volunteer service for the benefit of a community or a ...

and

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

. He also contributed with the ball - scalping 11 wickets throughout the tournament. In the same season, Riyan Parag struck consecutive first-class centuries against

Chhattisgarh Chhattisgarh (; ) is a landlocked States and union territories of India, state in Central India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ninth largest state by area, and with a population of roughly 30 million, the List ...

and

and a 75 against

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

. He scored a total of 378 runs in 2023-24 Ranji Trophy in 6 innings at a

of 75.60 and a strike rate of 113.85, along with again becoming the highest six hitter of the tournament with 20 sixes in elite category. He smashed the second-fastest century in the history of

, getting to the landmark off just 56 balls. He went on to score 155 playing for Assam in that away game against Chhattisgarh at

Raipur Raipur ( ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. Raipur is also the administrative headquarters of Raipur district and Raipur division, and the largest city of the state. It was a part of Madhya Pradesh before the state of Chh ...

. Officially

Rishabh Pant Rishabh Pant (; born 4 October 1997) is an Indian international cricketer who plays for the Indian cricket team as a wicket-keeper batter. He is currently the vice captain of Indian cricket team in the Test format. He captains and plays for th ...

scored the fastest century in Ranji trophy off 48 balls against Jharkhand in the 2016 edition of the

. Unofficially, Shakti Singh holds the record for the fastest century, scoring it in just 42 balls for Himachal Pradesh against Haryana. However, there were no official scorers at the time, and the team members handled the scoring. As fate would have it, they only began counting when Singh was nearing his fifty. Riyan was also a part of the victorious

India A cricket team The India A cricket team is a national cricket team representing second-tier cricket of India national cricket team. The matches played by India A receive first-class and List A classification. It is a developmental team, domestic players who ar ...

in the first-class 2024-25 Duleep Trophy. In the second innings of the tournament's final game, he top-scored with 73 runs against eventual runners-up India C. Parag was initially appointed as the captain of the Assam cricket team for their tour of

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

in June 2025. But, at the last moment, Denish Das, was named to lead the side as Parag was unavailable.

India Under-19 career

In October 2017, Riyan was named in India's squad for the 2017 ACC Under-19 Asia Cup. In 2017, he was selected for India's Under-19 squad for the two youth Tests in England. He finished the two youth Tests in England as India's second-highest run-getter, behind

Prithvi Shaw Prithvi Pankaj Shaw (; born 9 November 1999) is an Indian cricketer who has played for the Indian cricket team in all formats. In domestic cricket, he plays for Mumbai and has previously represented Delhi Capitals and Northamptonshire. Under hi ...

. His twin fifties in the first-game - including a 33-ball half-century, the second-fastest behind

Virat Kohli Virat Kohli (born 5 November 1988) is an Indian Cricket, international cricketer who plays One Day International, ODI cricket for the India national cricket team, national team and is a former Captain (cricket), captain in all formats. He is a ...

in recorded youth Tests, helped India set up a declaration and paved way for a 334-run victory in Chesterfield. In the second Test, he made a half-century in India's quest for quick runs, strung a 131-run stand with

Shubman Gill Shubman Gill (born 8 September 1999) is an Indian international cricketer who is the captain of the India Test team. Gill is ranked the number one batter in the ODI rankings as of May 2025. Nicknamed as Prince of Indian Cricket and Kaka, Gill ...

for the fourth wicket and set up a 2–0 series win. Prior to the tour, he finished a bumper season, in which he was the second-highest run-getter in the 2016-17

Cooch Behar Trophy The Cooch Behar Trophy is India's national four-day cricket tournament for under-19 players. It has been held annually since the 1945–46 season. It is run by the Board of Control for Cricket in India. History The trophy was donated by, and na ...

, India's national four-day tournament for U-19 players, with 642 runs in 14 innings and a best of 202 not out. Riyan was selected in India A squad for India U19 Challenger trophy(2017), and became the highest run-getter in that tournament. In December 2017, he was named in India's squad for the

2018 Under-19 Cricket World Cup The 2018 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup was an international limited-overs cricket tournament held in New Zealand from 13 January till 3 February 2018. It was the twelfth edition of the U19 World Cup, and the third to be held in New Zealand af ...

. According to the then India Under-19 coach

Rahul Dravid Rahul Dravid (; born 11 January 1973) is a former cricket player, ex-captain and ex-coach of the Indian national cricket team. Known for his outstanding batting technique, Dravid scored 24,177 runs in international cricket and is widely re ...

, he was in phenomenal form, hitting it beautifully in the build-up, but unfortunately got injured. Parag did not start the tournament because of a finger injury, and made the XI only for the final group game against Zimbabwe. He broke his finger in the warm up games, but participated in the later half of that competition. A finger injury on his left hand affected his batting fluidity. As a result, he focused on his secondary skill and developed into an off-spinner.

Indian Premier League

In December 2018, Riyan was bought by the

in the

player auction Player auction is a significant aspect of modern sports leagues, prominently observed in cricket and baseball, where teams bid to acquire the services of players for a specific tournament or season. The process involves a blend of strategy, fin ...

for the

2019 Indian Premier League The 2019 Indian Premier League season (also known as IPL 12) was the twelfth season of the Indian Premier League, a professional Twenty20 cricket league established by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in 2007. At one point othe ...

at his base price of 20 lakhs. During the

, he became the youngest cricketer to score a fifty in the history of the

. He achieved the feat at the age of 17 years and 175 days breaking the previous record of 18 years and 169 days, jointly held by

Sanju Samson Sanju Viswanath Samson (; born 11 November 1994) is an Indian international cricketer, who is a member of the white-ball formats of Indian national team. A right-handed wicket-keeper-batter, he captains Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premi ...

and

. Riyan was released by Rajasthan Royals ahead of the mega auction for

2022 Indian Premier League The 2022 Indian Premier League (also known as IPL 15 or for sponsorship reasons, TATA IPL 2022) was the fifteenth season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), a professional Twenty20 cricket league established by the Board of Control for Cricket ...

. In February 2022, he was re-bought by the

in the

auction An auction is usually a process of Trade, buying and selling Good (economics), goods or Service (economics), services by offering them up for Bidding, bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from th ...

for the

tournament. In the

, he took 17 catches - the most by any Indian fielder and non-

wicket-keeper In cricket, the wicket-keeper is the Cricket player, player on the fielding (cricket), fielding side who stands behind the wicket, ready to stop Delivery (cricket), deliveries that pass the batsman, and take a Caught, catch, Stumped, stump the ...

in the tournament and scored a match winning 56 not out for

in a low scoring thriller against

Royal Challengers Bangalore The Royal Challengers Bengaluru, formerly Royal Challengers Bangalore, also known as RCB, are a professional Twenty20, Twenty20 cricket team based in Bengaluru, Karnataka, that competes in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Founded in 2008 ...

. In the

2024 Indian Premier League The 2024 Indian Premier League (also known as IPL 17 and branded as TATA IPL 2024) was the 17th edition of the Indian Premier League. The tournament featured ten teams competing in 74 matches from 22 March to 26 May 2024. It was held across 13 ...

, Riyan was the highest run scorer for

, overall the third highest on the run scoring charts and fifth highest on the six hitters list with 573 runs and 33 sixes respectively. Riyan Parag made history by becoming the player with the most runs in a single season while batting at number four, surpassing

's 2018 record of 547 runs at the position. He was the one with the most runs scored by any uncapped player in the

. Parag is the first player to score more than 550 runs in a season while batting at number four. During the IPL 2025 season, Riyan was appointed captain of the Rajasthan Royals following Sanju Samson's finger injury. He finished as the second highest run-scorer for the

in the season, with 393 runs at a strike rate of 166.52 and a total of 27 sixes. This included a 45 ball 95 against the defending champions

Kolkata Knight Riders The Kolkata Knight Riders, also known as KKR, are a professional Twenty20 cricket team based in Kolkata, West Bengal, that competes in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The franchise is owned by actor Shah Rukh Khan, actress Juhi Chawla, and ...

. He also contributed with the ball - picking up 3 top-order wickets in the season.

India A career

Riyan was also included in the

squad for the

2023 ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup The 2023 ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup was the fifth edition of the ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup. It took place from 13 to 23 July 2023 in Sri Lanka. The tournament featured a total of eight teams, which included five 'A' teams from the full memb ...

. Riyan played in the final against

Pakistan A The Pakistan A cricket team, or Pakistan Shaheens, is a national cricket team representing Pakistan. It is the second-tier of international Pakistan cricket, below the full Pakistan national cricket team. Matches played by Pakistan A are not cons ...

where he picked up two middle-order

s off consecutive deliveries.

Senior international career

T20 Internationals

Riyan Parag became the first Assamese and also the first male cricketer from

Northeast India Northeast India, officially the North Eastern Region (NER), is the easternmost region of India representing both a geographic and political Administrative divisions of India, administrative division of the country. It comprises eight States and ...

to be included in the Indian National Squad when his name was selected for the T20I squad of the India National team for the series against Zimbabwe tour from 6 July 2024. Riyan was later selected for the T20Is against

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

. He played all three games in the series and notched up career-best bowling figures of 3

s conceding 5 runs in the first T20I. In the third T20I of the Series, he scored a quickfire 18 ball 26 from the lower-middle order, stitching a vital 54 run sixth wicket partnership with

after a mini-collapse. Riyan was part of the batting lineup that set a record for the highest-ever total by the Indian team in T20 internationals, scoring 297/6 in 20 overs. He contributed by smashing 34 off 13 deliveries, that was studded with four sixes and a four.

One Day International Career

Riyan Parag received his first call-up to the ODI squad for the Sri Lanka tour, scheduled to begin on July 27, 2024. He made his One Day International debut in the third and final match of the series, notching up a three

-haul on ODI debut.

Awards and recognitions

He was honoured with the

Lala Amarnath Lala Amarnath Bhardwaj (11 September 1911 – 5 August 2000) was an Indian cricketer. He is considered to be the father figure of Indian cricket. He scored the first ever century for India in Test Cricket in 1933. He was independent India's fir ...

best allrounder award for the domestic season 2022-23 by the

BCCI The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the principal national governing body of the sport of cricket in India. Its headquarters are situated at the Cricket Centre in Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. BCCI is the wealthiest governing body ...

. The captain of the senior men's team

Rohit Sharma Rohit Sharma (born 30 April 1987) is an Indian Cricket, international cricketer and the Captain (cricket), captain of the India national cricket team, national team in One Day International, ODIs. He is also a former captain in Tests and T20 ...

had presented him with the award.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Parag, Riyan 2001 births Living people Indian cricketers India One Day International cricketers India Twenty20 International cricketers 21st-century Indian sportsmen Assam cricketers Cricketers from Guwahati Rajasthan Royals cricketers