Rajasthan Royals share inspirational post of six-year-old Riyan Parag with idol MS Dhoni

Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Rajasthan Royals on Wednesday took to its official Twitter handle to share an old picture of its all-rounder Riyan Parag posing with a relatively young MS Dhoni. The Royals also shared another picture to go along with it, where MS Dhoni and Riyan Parag could be seen in their latest avatar from IPL 2019. "You evolve, you learn, you grow," Rajasthan Royals captioned the post accompanied by a smiling face with heart-shaped eyes emoticon.  

The first picture shows former India captain MS Dhoni posing with a 6-year-old Riyan Parag in what appears to be the Indian state of Assam. The second picture is from 2019 when Parag made his IPL debut against Chennai Super Kings at MA Chidambaram stadium. The member of India's 2018 U-19 World Cup-winning squad was bought by Rajasthan Royals for Rs. 20 lakh in a players' auction in 2019. He made his debut the same year and went on to become the youngest batsman to score an IPL fifty, a record which he still holds. 

Parag scored 160 runs at an average of 32.00 in the 2019 edition of IPL, where he played 7 games for his side. Although the 2020 edition of IPL went abysmal for Parag, he will be looking to change his fortune in the second phase of IPL 2021, which is slated to be held in the UAE this year. In the first half of IPL 2021, Parag could manage only 78 runs off his bat and just 1 wicket in 7 games that he played for Rajasthan. 

IPL 2021

The IPL 2021 that had to be indefinitely suspended with immediate effect last month due to a surge in COVID-19 cases has been shifted to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and will be rescheduled later this year. However, many foreign players are set to give it a miss due to a packed international calendar. The BCCI is expected to talk to the foreign boards and convince them to send international players to the IPL or the franchises will suffer massive losses in revenue and their playing combination will also get hampered.   

IMAGE: RiyanParag/Insta