When an excited Riyan Parag misplaced passport before Zimbabwe tour

Guwaahti, Jul 3:Young all-rounder Riyan Parag, who is part of the Indian team for the Zimbabwe tour, was so excited that he misplaced his passport and other documents before boarding the flight to the African country. The Indian team, led by Shubman Gill, reached Harare on Tuesday. Riyan is the first player from Assam to be selected for the senior national men’s team.

“I was so excited that I forgot my passport and my phone… not exactly forgotten but misplaced them. I have them now,” a smiling Riyan said in a video posted by BCCI.

Since childhood, Riyan has dreamt of travelling with teammates while wearing the India jersey. Representing the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL, Riyan scored 573 runs in 14 innings with a strike rate of 149.21 this season, including four half-centuries, with 84 not out being his highest score. His impressive performance kept him in contention for the national team.

Despite several new faces in this Indian team, Riyan mentioned that they have played together for a long time in the domestic circuit and the IPL. “Coming from Assam, I always had this dream of playing for India. And it has happened now, so I am really happy. There will be a special connection with Zimbabwe when I play my first match. That will be a special moment for that ground and myself, which would be very sacred," he said.

Riyan is the son of former Assam cricketer Parag Das and swimmer Mithoo Barooah. Another individual from Assam, former first-class cricketer Subhadeep Ghosh, has also accompanied the team to Zimbabwe as the fielding coach.

The Indian team will play five T20 Internationals during the tour.