A young fan ran onto the pitch at Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati to touch the feet of Rajasthan Royals’ stand-in captain, Riyan Parag, during their IPL 2025 match against Kolkata Knight Riders on Tuesday.
Fan Invades Pitch to Touch Riyan Parag’s Feet
It happened during the second innings when KKR was chasing a target of 152. The fan jumped past security and ran onto the field, approaching Riyan Parag while he was bowling an over. The fan quickly touched Parag’s feet and hugged him before security guards arrived to escort him off the field.
This was Riyan Parag’s first match as an IPL captain in his home state of Assam. He has been appointed to lead RR for the first three matches as regular captain Sanju Samson is recovering from a finger injury.
Samson did play in the match, as well as RR’s season opener against Sunrisers Hyderabad, but only as a batter. Although the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence has cleared him to bat, he has been advised to avoid wicketkeeping for now. As a result, RR has been using him as an Impact Player.
This was the second pitch invasion of the season, following an incident in the KKR-Royal Challengers Bengaluru season opener at Eden Gardens in Kolkata, where a fan jumped the fence to meet Virat Kohli. The invader in that case was arrested by Kolkata police and banned from the stadium for the rest of the season.
Although the pitch invasion was dangerous and illegal, it highlighted Riyan Parag’s growing popularity in his home state of Assam. As the first cricketer from Assam to make it to the IPL, it shows that RR views him as a future leader, which is why they chose to play two matches in Guwahati.
Watch the Viral Video of the Pitch Invasion
Meanwhile, the video of the same has been going viral on the internet, watch it here:
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Fan invaded pitch for Riyan parag 😭😭
Itna bura din aagaya 😭 pic.twitter.com/FfI8coZnFH— dAdA (@dAdA_170908) March 26, 2025
On the field, however, Parag had a mixed performance. He scored a quick 25 off 15 balls while batting at number three but was dismissed trying to slog Varun Chakravarthy. In the second innings, he bowled four overs for 25 runs but failed to take any wickets.
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