The incident made Indian cricketer Riyan Parag an unexpected viral sensation after his YouTube search history was inadvertently streamed live after IPL 2024. Fans took to the web and trolled and criticized him for searching Bollywood actresses Ananya Panday and Sara Ali Khan in a manner that seemed a bit suggestive.
Parag, a key player for Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2024, resumed his gaming live streams after the tournament. On one of these sessions, however, he forgot to hide his screen, thus revealing searches such as “Ananya Panday h*t” and “Sara Ali Khan h*t.” Screenshots of the moment widely circulated on social media, giving rise to an online backlash that was quite sharp.
Initially, Parag was silent on the controversy, but he finally broke his silence while speaking to City1016 Radio Station. Addressing the incident, he responded with humour, saying, “I am h*tter.” He further explained that the mishap occurred due to an old search history resurfacing during the stream.
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“I finished the IPL, we were in Chennai, and after our match, I joined a Discord call with my streaming team. This actually happened before the IPL, and one of the people on my Discord team had tried to set me up. That clip got taken down quickly, but after the IPL, since I had a good season, it resurfaced. I went on YouTube to play music because I didn’t have Spotify or Apple Music. I searched for a song, and after my stream ended, I realized what had happened and thought, ‘Oh s**t.’ It got blown out of proportion. I didn’t think it was worth publicly addressing because no one would really understand,” Riyan Parag clarified.
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Despite the ongoing debate, Parag’s on-field performances were impressive. He stood out with a remarkable IPL 2024, becoming the Rajasthan Royals’ top run-scorer, amassing 573 runs in 14 innings and finishing third overall in the tournament’s run-scoring list. His success in the IPL led to his selection for the national team, allowing him to make his T20I debut against Zimbabwe in July 2024, followed by his ODI debut against Sri Lanka in August 2024.
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In ten white-ball internationals, Parag has scored 106 runs in T20Is, scoring at a blistering strike rate of 151.42. However, his shoulder injury kept him out of India’s T20I series against South Africa and England, also knocking him off the list of Champions Trophy squad members. Recovered completely, he had returned to domestic cricket, making an appearance in the seventh round of 2024-25 Ranji Trophy.
Parag’s Ranji Trophy performances have been impressive, amassing 378 runs in six innings last season at an average of 75.60 and a strike rate of 113.85, including a tournament-high 20 sixes. He looks to regain national selection and make his mark on the international stage in the future as he continues with his cricketing journey.
