Uncapped Indian batter Riyan Parag has named Virat Kohli and Rashid Khan as the two cricketers who are the current Greatest of all time (GOAT) players.
Riyan Parag, who had a sensational performance in the 2024 Indian Premier League season with the Rajasthan Royals, spoke his heart out in a recent interview. He has always been an expressive personality whether on the field or on social media. The youngster is said to have a bright future in his cricketing career and his development will be one to watch out for.
He wreaked havoc in the Indian Premier League this season, crossing the 500-run mark for the first time in his 7-year stay with Rajasthan Royals. It will be fair to say that Riyan Parag well and truly repaid the trust that the RR management had shown for him since 2019. Next season, he is expected to come up with an even better performance.
Riyan Parag says Virat Kohli is the Indian GOAT
Riyan Parag was recently in a conversation with Sportskeeda following his successful IPL 2024 campaign. He was asked to give answers to a variety of questions from his success mantra to his top 4 team picks in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 in the USA and West Indies. One of them was – the players who are the modern-day cricket’s GOATs.
The right-hand batter, who has a bit of a swagger in him, named his idol Virat Kohli, admitting that it was an easy choice for him. “Virat Kohli for sure but then that’s a very obvious answer,” Parag told Sportskeeda.
Perhaps for the first time ever, Riyan Parag was able to compete with Kohli in the Orange Cap race before the latter finished as the 3rd highest run-getter. While Virat Kohli finished with 741 runs from 15 games, Parag amassed 573 runs from 16 games in the tournament.
Parag’s foreign GOAT is Rashid Khan for his consistency
When it came to naming a non-Indian player who can be considered as a modern-day GOAT, Riyan Parag named Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan as the one. The 2-time IPL winner with SunRisers Hyderabad and Gujarat Titans might have not experienced a good IPL season but the leg-spinner can’t counted out.
Rashid is indeed one of the biggest T20 players around the world, who is going to captain his national side in this ICC T20 World Cup edition. Parag reasoned that Rashid Khan’s consistency is what prompted him to take his name and claimed that the latter is well on course to become a legend.
“Someone else, I’d say…. The GOAT… I think Rashid Khan. He’s been very consistent for the last, I don’t even remember how many years. I think he’s on that track for sure. An Indian for GOAT pick, aside from Kohli, none, not really,” Riyan Parag concluded.
