Irfan Pathan praises Riyan Parag's 'Solid cricketing attitude' after his match-winning knock against Mumbai Indians

Rajasthan Royals found a new hero in young Riyan Parag as he played an impactful inning to take the team over the finish line against three-time champions Mumbai Indians at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium on Saturday. The 17-year old added 70 runs for the fourth wicker along with skipper Steve Smith as the duo kept Rajasthan in the hunt.

Veteran all-rounder Irfan Pathan was so impressed with Parag's knock that he took to Twitter to appreciate the young batsman. 

Here's what Irfan Pathan said about the player from Assam:

Parag scored a fantastic 29-ball 43 at a strike rate of 148.28 including five boundaries and a maximum. Although he was run out in the 18th over by Ben Cutting, by then he and his captain had taken the Royals on the cusp of victory.

Seeing the performance of Riyan Parag, netizens were full of praises for the budding cricketer from Assam. Read some of the reactions here:

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Newly-appointed skipper Smith played a captain's knock of an unbeaten 48-ball 59 and anchored Rajasthan's chase as the inaugural edition winners registered their third win of this season by five wickets in the penultimate over. He was adjudged 'Man of the Match' for his knock. 

Earlier, Steve Smith had won the toss and decided to bowl first. They got an early breakthrough as they managed to dismiss Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma. Quinton de Kock then added 98 runs with Suryakumar Yadav. The South African wicket-keeper batsman scored a vital 47-ball 65 at a strike rate of 138.30. However, post the dismissals of  Yadav and de Kock Mumbai lost wickets at regular intervals.

In the end, Hardik Pandya's short cameo of a 15-ball 23 helped Mumbai get to a respectable total of 161/5 in their 20 overs.

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