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A young fan invaded the pitch at Barsapara Cricket Stadium to touch RR captain Riyan Parag’s feet during their IPL 2025 match against KKR. The fan hugged Parag before being taken away by security.
Pitch invader’s interaction with Riyan Parag. (PC: Screengrab/X)
A young fan invaded the pitch at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati to touch Rajasthan Royals (RR) stand-in captain Riyan Parag‘s feet during their IPL 2025 clash against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Tuesday.
It happened during the second innings with KKR chasing the target of 152. The fan jumped through security and entered the ground, running to Parag, who was in the middle of bowling an over. He immediately touched his feet and then hugged Parag before the security guards swooped in to take him away.
Watch a clip of the incident here:
This was Parag’s first match as an IPL captain in his home state of Assam. He has been chosen to lead RR for the first three matches because regular skipper Sanju Samson is dealing with a finger injury.
Samson did play the match, as well as RR’s season opener against Sunrisers Hyderabad but only in the batting innings. That’s because although BCCI’s Centre of Excellence has cleared him fit to bat, he has been advised to stay away from wicketkeeping for a while — which has meant RR is using him as an Impact Player only.
This was the second pitch invasion of the season after a fan came through the Eden Gardens fence to meet Virat Kohli during the KKR-Royal Challengers Bengaluru season opener in Kolkata. In that case, the invader was arrested by the Kolkata police and banned from the stadium for the rest of the season.
Though a dangerous and illegal act, it showed Parag’s growing popularity in his home state. He is the first cricketer from Assam to make it through to the IPL. It also makes RR’s decision to play two matches in Guwahati a strategic one because they seem to see him as Samson’s eventual successor.
Parag didn’t have a great day on the field, though. He hit a quickfire 25 (15) while batting at number three in the first innings, but got out at the wrong time trying to slog Varun Chakaravarthy. In the second innings, he bowled four overs for 25 runs but didn’t take any wickets.
RR are winless in IPL 2025 and will next host Chennai Super Kings in Guwahati on March 30.
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- Location :
Guwahati [Gauhati], India, India