Riyan Parag shares Indian skipper Virat Kohli's message on autographed bat

Rajasthan Royals (RR) young batting star Riyan Parag has made all the right noises for the franchise either by being calm in tense run-chases or being cool with his dance moves. Parag is certainly the entertainer for the Royals. In 26 matches for the team, he has scored 324 at a healthy strike rate of 126.07.

Like many of the other upcoming youngsters in the team, Parag idolizes Virat Kohli and has lavished praise on the Indian skipper on several occasions. Such has been Kohli’s consistency and hunger to score runs in each of the three formats that he has inspired the others across the world to follow in his footsteps.

Parag got the opportunity to catch up with Kohli during the Indian Premier League (IPL). During his off-time, the 19-year-old conducted a Question & Answer session with his fans and one of them asked his ‘most loved celebrity autograph.’ Parag immediately replied by also adding a caption to the photo, calling the Indian skipper the ‘G.O.A.T’.

Kohli also wrote a nice message alongside it “Dear Riyan, enjoy the game. Good luck.”

The signed bat of Riyan Parag by Virat Kohli. pic.twitter.com/jXVhJu6mJ1

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) June 6, 2021

Riyan Parag terms Virat Kohli his inspiration

Parag could not quite get going in the first half of the IPL for the Royals as he could only manage 78 runs in six innings at a mediocre average of 19.50. All is not lost as the Royals still have over five games left in the UAE leg and the 19-year-old can still make handy contributions with the bat.

Recalling his conversation with Kohli, Parag told how the batter encouraged him to give his best no matter which position he came out to bat.

“No, it doesn’t actually [if not getting a lot of chances to bat matters to him]. I had a chat with Virat Kohli during the last IPL. He specifically told me that ‘you are not going to get the Orange Cap. You bat No. 5 or No. 6 so there is no point in you thinking about the Orange Cap. You just think about how you can get those crucial 20 or 30 runs and when you get the chance to go in at a crucial phase, just think how you can get the team through.’ So that really fit in my mind and now I don’t think about how many runs I’m getting, I just think how my runs are benefiting the team,” Riyan Parag told Cricbuzz.