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The Rajasthan Royals batter, Riyan Parag, was spotted cheering for Royal Challengers Bengaluru and their star player Virat Kohli during their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 clash against Punjab Kings. During an Instagram Live session, the 22-year-old was quick to respond to a fan question about the winner of the match, chanting the team’s initials, “RCB RCB.”
Riyan Parag had gone live on his official Instagram account from his hotel room in Chennai, where he will be taking the field for Rajasthan Royals against Chennai Super Kings on Sunday, May 12 at Chepauk. Apart from predicting the winner of the PBKS versus RCB contest, the Guwahati-born cricketer also enjoyed watching Virat Kohli hit boundaries, and on one occasion, he remarked, “Chakka lo b*******. Dekho video ghumaya chakka aya (There goes a six. I turned the video and the six came).”
Notably, the admiration of Riyan Parag for Virat Kohli has been well-documented over the past few years, since the Assamese youngster made waves in the world of cricket. He was quoted as saying last year, “It (inspiration) has always been Virat Kohli. I don't look up to any other batsman, although there are great batsmen in our generation. But I just relate a lot to Virat Kohli.”
“I speak with him often and he's just got a lot of input that I actually like and I can relate to that person. I like it when he says something, I really understand it and he makes me understand it as well,” Riyan Parag had added.
Moreover, the IPL 2024 season has been sensational with the bat for Riyan Parag, scoring 436 runs in just 10 innings at an average of 54.50 and a strike rate of 156.27. The 22-year-old has also scored four fifties in the ongoing season, which is two more than what he had accomplished in his first five years with Rajasthan Royals.
Here is the clip of Riyan Parag cheering for RCB and Virat Kohli:
