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Veteran India all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin was all praise for Riyan Parag amid the youngster’s recent exploits in the domestic circuit. Parag has been stunning form for his state team Assam. He recently became the first batter to hit seven consecutive half-centuries in T20s recently at the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy. The 22-year-old cracked 12 sixes and 11 fours to make 155 from 87 balls for the second fastest century in the Ranji Trophy history. The record for hitting the fastest century in Ranji Trophy is held by Rishabh Pant, who reached the landmark in 48 balls against Jharkhand in 2016.

Despite Parag putting on an impressive all-round show in domestic circuit, fans have often criticised him of his poor performances in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Ashwin slammed his critics, claiming that Parag “is still a young player who is getting better”.

“Riyan Parag is frequently criticised as an overhyped cricketer after just seeing his IPL performances. We forget that he’s a youngster sometimes. He is still a young player who is getting better. Parag made useful contributions in the Syed Mushtaq Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy and slammed 155 for Assam against Chattisgarh in the first match of the ongoing Ranji Trophy season,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.

Ashwin further pointed out how Parag has been leading Assam from the front, especially when his teammates have failed to step up.

“He scored 155 off 87 balls. He didn’t play for the sake of playing T20 cricket. He was pushed into that situation. All the batters on the other end fell like flies, and he took charge of his own hands and played such a knock,” he added.

Speaking of Parag’s IPL career, he has played 54 matches to date in his and has scored 600 runs, with an average of 16.22. He has also slammed 2 half-centuries, with his highest IPL score being 56* runs.