Riyan Parag found himself at the heart of the action during the Rajasthan Royals’ opening game of IPL 2025 against the Kolkata Knight Riders at Guwahati’s Barsapara Cricket Stadium. Serving as the stand-in captain, Parag was greeted with thunderous applause from the home crowd, eagerly supporting Assam’s first IPL superstar.
The excitement around him was palpable from the toss itself, even though Kolkata skipper Ajinkya Rahane won the flip of the coin. Midway through the second innings, a surprising incident occurred as a fan managed to slip past security and rush onto the field. The enthusiastic supporter reached out to touch Parag’s feet and gave him a quick hug, leaving the RR captain momentarily stunned.
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The crowd’s cheers echoed through the stadium, adding a memorable moment to an otherwise challenging game for Rajasthan Royals. The interruption was brief as security swiftly escorted the fan off the field.
Fan breaches security to meet Riyan Parag! Cricket fever at its peak!🏃
[ Video Credits: @JioHotstar, @IPL #RiyanParag #RRvsKKR ] pic.twitter.com/xzlrQW44uq
— ◉‿◉ (@nandeeshbh18) March 26, 2025
On the performance front, Parag tried to lift his team with a brisk 25 off 15 balls and contributed with the ball, delivering four tidy overs. As the third spin option alongside Maheesh Theekshana and Wanindu Hasaranga, he kept things tight, but RR’s total of 151 ultimately fell short.
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The Kolkata spinners, Varun Chakravarthy and Moeen Ali, were instrumental in stifling the Royals’ batting effort. The duo combined for four wickets while conceding just 40 runs across their eight overs, exploiting the sluggish surface to perfection. Having already suffered a 41-run loss to SunRisers Hyderabad earlier in the week, Rajasthan Royals will need to regroup quickly to bounce back in this season’s IPL campaign.
