Follow UsIndian all-rounder Riyan Parag has finally broken his silence on the controversy surrounding a screenshot of his YouTube search history that went viral after the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. The spin-bowling all-rounder from Assam faced criticism and trolls after fans noticed Bollywood actresses Ananya Pandey and Sara Ali Khan’s names in his YouTube search history in one of his live streams.
"I finished the IPL, we were in Chennai, finished the match, got on a Discord call with my streaming team, and it got publicised now, but it happened before the IPL. One of the people in my Discord team tried to set me up before the IPL, but that got taken down very quickly. But then, after the IPL, the hype was there, and I had a good season. I came and opened my stream, I didn't have Spotify or Apple Music. Everything was deleted," Parag said during an interview with City1016 Radio station.
"So I went on YouTube to put on music, and I searched for music. But I didn't know what was happening, but once I did, the stream ended, I was like, Oh s**t! This happened. It just got blown out of proportion. I didn't think it was a good enough reason for me to go out publicly and clarify everything, and no one would understand.”
Parag was super impressive in the IPL 2024. Playing for Rajasthan Royals, the young batter smashed 573 runs in 14 innings at an average of 52.09 and a strike rate of almost 150. Since then, Parag has already played one ODI and nine T20Is for India.
Parag was out of action for close to four months because of a shoulder injury but recently made his return in a Ranji Trophy game against Saurashtra. The Royals retained the 23-year-old for INR 14 crore ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction.