Suryakumar Yadav's 'amazing attitude' post for Riyan Parag leaves internet divided

Rajasthan Royals (RR) locked horns against Gujarat Titans (GT) in Qualifier 1 of IPL 2022 on Tuesday. Gujarat Titans handed a seven-wicket defeat to Rajasthan Royals to advance to the final of the competition in their maiden season. The Royals, however, will get one more bite at the cherry as they will get an opportunity to qualify for the final again in Qualifier 2 on May 27. Rajasthan will face the winner of the Eliminator between Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in Qualifier 2. 

During the match on Tuesday, Mumbai Indians batter Suryakumar Yadav took to Twitter to heap praise on Rajasthan all-rounder Riyan Parag. Suryakumar shared a post on the micro-blogging platform, where he lauded Riyan's attitude on the field. Suryakumar was referring to an amazing fielding effort by Riyan in the 16th over of Gujarat's chase. Riyan, who was fielding at long-on, saved a boundary with an impressive dive after covering a significant distance. Riyan was then seen signalling his teammate Devdutt Padikkal to throw the ball towards the pitch. 

Meanwhile, Suryakumar's appreciation post for Riyan has received mixed reactions as many people thought the Assam-born cricketer was rude to Padikkal while asking him to throw back the ball to his teammates in the middle. When Riyan signalled at Padikkal to secure the ball, it appeared as if he was shouting at the Karnataka cricketer for not backing up. However, some believe Riyan was just pumped up after saving crucial runs for his side and that the reaction was only linked to the crunch situation his team was in at the moment. 

GT vs RR

Batting first, Rajasthan posted a total of 188/6 in 20 overs courtesy of a brilliant knock by Jos Buttler. Sanju Samson also contributed with the bat as he scored a quickfire 47 off 26 balls. In reply, Gujarat chased down the target in 19.3 overs with David Miller finishing in style for his side. Hardik Pandya, Shubman Gill, and Matthew Wade also played a crucial role with the bat to help Gujarat complete the chase. Miller was named the player of the match for his outstanding knock of 68 off 38 balls. 

Image: IPL/BCCI