SMAT 2023 | Twitter reacts to Riyan Parag's bold provoking gesture after leading Assam to quarters

SportsCafe Desk

BySportsCafe Desk, SportsCafe Editor

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When a star talent emerges from a conventionally non-cricketing region, the pressure to lead the team and make it big can be too much for young bucks to handle. However, Riyan Parag proved he's cut from a different cloth on Tuesday, as he brazenly gestured after a marauding win against Bengal.

Assam kept their juggernaut rolling in the ongoing edition of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, India's domestic T20 tournament, by securing a place in the quarterfinal for the first time since the 2009 edition. The side achieved the feat by comprehensively defeating arch-rivals Bengal in the preliminary encounter, restricting them to a paltry 138/8 in Chandigarh before chasing down the target comfortably with eight wickets and 13 balls to spare. As has been the story throughout their campaign, the driving force in their impressive performance was swashbuckling all-rounder Riyan Parag who continues to make waves on the domestic circuit at the ripe age of 21.

Parag first displayed his skills with the ball by scalping two wickets while conceding just 23 runs in his four overs before stroking his way to an unbeaten half-century of just 31 balls, smashing two fours and four maximums in the process. With victory in his sights by the time he reached the milestone, Parag took the opportunity to make a commanding statement to the cricketing fraternity. He used his index finger to symbolize the world before pointing to himself and indicating he was a level above the rest, capping off the pompous celebration with a flex of his biceps. Notably, Parag extended his record with this knock of most consecutive half-centuries in T20 cricket, the latest being his seventh on the trot to make his tournament haul read a ridiculous 490 runs in eight innings at an average of 122.50 and a strike rate of 189.19.

Incidentally, a commentator earlier in the game had remarked on air that Assam were seen as "second-class citizens" owing to how comfortably they were trumped by Bengal in the past, making Twitterati speculate the true meaning behind Parag's provoking gestures. 

Top G

Great Performance

Impressive play

He is proving

Well done

Pathetic or heroic?

The response

Insane form

Rise above

Next level

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