'People From Assam Haven’t Played at IPL Level': Riyan Parag Slams Critics Amid Nepotism Accusations

Riyan Parag has been in the limelight for both good and bad recently, the youngster was criticised for a poor outing during the recently concluded Emerging Asia Cup. However, he silenced his critics in style by smashing two centuries in the Deodhar Trophy, helping East Zone reach the final against South Zone.

Parag has had a mixed 2023 so far, he endured a torrid time in IPL 2023 with Rajasthan Royals, playing just 7 matches, wherein he managed to score a mere 78 runs.

Due to his social media antics, Parag has been in the news often, however during the recent interview, the 22-year-old opened up on his social media activity while slamming his critics.

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The all-rounder pointed out how he has been accused of having ‘connections’ but rather, he doesn’t take anything for granted. The youngster also added how not many people from Assam have played in the IPL, and he will look to continue to give his best.

“What hurts me the most is that people think I take it for granted, I have some connections or sources, and that’s absolutely HORSE**, I told you about my journey,” Parag told Cricket.com.

“People from Assam haven’t played at the IPL level, I’m going to play a lot more. I do not take anything for granted, I have the craziest work ethic, you can ask people who are close to me. All that goes unnoticed because I don’t brag about it on social media. You can have all the assumptions if you don’t want to know me,” he added.

Parag has scored 259 runs in the Deodhar Trophy with a stunning strike of 133.51, and the youngster said that people’s opinions do not affect him.

“I do not care. I definitely do not care about what people think about me. I’m going to play cricket the way I started playing cricket, that was me having tons of fun. I want to play cricket the way I want to play,” Riyan added.