Riyan Parag earned his reward for his exploits in the Indian Premier League with the Rajasthan Royals with a selection in the 15-member Indian men’s cricket team for the Zimbabwe tour.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India announced the 15-member squad on Monday. Dhruv Jurel also made the Indian team for the first time in white-ball cricket. Fellow Royals Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Avesh Khan too found a place in the squad.
India are scheduled to play five T20Is at Harare in Zimbabwe from July 6 to 14.
The 22-year-old Parag earned his spot in the Indian team on the back of strong performances in the shortest format of the game in the past year, especially in IPL 2024.
Parag was the top scorer in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, the premier domestic T20 tournament, in 2023. He scored 510 runs from 10 matches at an astonishing average of 85.00 and a strike rate of 182.79.
Parag was also the Royals’ top run-getter in the recently concluded IPL 2024. He finished third overall with an aggregate of 573 runs from 14 visits to the crease averaging 52.09 at a strike rate of 149.21.
Sanju Samson, currently in the Indian T20 World Cup 2024 squad, was also amongst the runs in IPL 2024 finishing behind Riyan Parag in the Royals’ batting charts. He amassed 531 runs at an average of 48.27 and a strike rate of 153.46. Meanwhile, Jaiswal accumulated 435 runs from 15 innings this year.
Avesh Khan finished as the Royals’ top wicket-taker in IPL 2024 with 19 wickets from 15 innings at an average of 27.68 and a strike rate of 17.31.
Shubman Gill will lead the 15-member Indian team, which also includes newcomers Abhishek Sharma, Nitish Reddy and Tushar Deshpande.
Indian cricket team for 2024 T20 series vs Zimbabwe - full squad
Indian cricket team: Ꮪhubman Gill (captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Abhishek Sharma, Rinku Singh, Sanju Samson (wicket-keeper), Dhruv Jurel (wicket-keeper), Nitish Reddy, Riyan Parag, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Khaleel Ahmed, Mukesh Kumar, Tushar Deshpande.
