3 reasons why India must consider Riyan Parag for their white ball squads amid IND vs SA 2025 ODIs

Young batting all-rounder Riyan Parag is back to dominating the headlines with his recent interview about warranting a place in the Indian white-ball sides. The 24-year-old suffered a shoulder injury just as he was easing his way into the Indian T20I side and had debuted in ODIs since the middle of last year.

However, with the stiff competition for a spot in the Indian setup, Parag is suddenly nowhere to be found when it comes to selection in the white-ball sides.

Nevertheless, the Assam youngster remains confident about his ability to play for the national side, saying (via Sportstar):

"I felt I was pretty decent [for India]. This is my belief, or overconfidence; you can say whatever you want. But I know that because my shoulder was injured, I am currently not playing for India. Otherwise, I think I can play both white-ball formats [for India]. Whenever I am fully fit, you will see me in India colours again."

Despite his struggles in the ongoing 2025-26 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT), Parag is someone who must be in the reckoning for a return to the Indian white-ball sides.

Here are three key reasons why.

#1 Riyan Parag showed tremendous potential for India before the injury

Riyan Parag's white-ball numbers for India may be disappointing if the context and circumstances are out of fashion. The 24-year-old scored only a 13-ball 15 in his lone ODI outing and averaged an underwhelming 17.66 in his nine T20Is.

Yet, a closer look indicates that each of his seven innings for India in white-ball cricket came at No.4 or below, with the overs often running out. Given that, Parag's impressive T20I strike rate of 151.42 must hold greater precedence.

Furthermore, his uncanny knack of picking up wickets was on full display in both white-ball formats. In his lone ODI appearance, Parag bowled nine overs and finished with game-changing figures of 3/54 in Sri Lanka.

The youngster also produced with the ball in T20Is, picking up four wickets at an average of under 21 and an excellent economy of 6.72 in nine outings. Within the limited opportunities with bat and ball, Parag's rare all-round package was on full display even on the international stage.

#2 Riyan Parag provides India a rare combination of a versatile batter plus a batting all-rounder

Riyan Parag has been one of the most versatile cricketers over the last two IPL seasons [Credit: Getty]

Riyan Parag is among the rare batters with the ability to bat in the top order or as a finisher. The fact that he has batted from positions four to seven in his brief international career is evidence of the same.

Furthermore, Parag has also demonstrated the ability to thrive across phases in the IPL and in domestic cricket. In his overall T20 career, the 24-year-old has batted at all positions from opening to No.7.

More impressively, he averages an excellent 49.14 and 41.91 at one-drop and at No.4. Yet, Parag has also batted from positions five to seven as many as 49 times.

Narrowing the numbers down to just the IPL, the Rajasthan Royals (RR) right-hander has batted at least five times in all the positions from No. 3 to 7. While Parag has batted from No. 3 to 5 38 times, he has been at No. 6 and 7 a combined 34 times.

Despite boasting some of the best white-ball batters, India has struggled to find someone with the ability to bat at almost every batting position. Add to that the rare top-five batter with the capability of bowling overs at will at different stages, and India could have someone with batting versatility and a niche overall package.

#3 Riyan Parag could be the retrospective solution to the current Washington Sundar experiment

Washington Sundar has struggled in his new role as a batting all-rounder in ODIs [Credit: Getty]

Indian fans have been irate with the recent Washington Sundar experiment in the recent T20Is and the ongoing ODI series against South Africa. While a similar attempt with Axar Patel has worked wonders, the side's roll of the dice with some batting at No. 5 or 6 and bowling off-spin has mostly failed with Sundar.

Despite the odd glimpses, the ongoing South African series has been glaring evidence that Sundar may still be a bowler who can bat rather than a genuine middle-order spin-bowling all-rounder.

In retrospect, Riyan Parag could be the actual solution to that puzzle should head coach Gautam Gambhir be insistent on such a role within the white-ball side. Sundar has bowled three and four overs in each of the first two South African ODIs and batted at No. 5 and 6.

Riyan Parag could be the perfect fit for such a role, where the requirement is to provide the innings impetus in the final 15 overs and bowl a few overs of effective off-spin.