'Hence he won’t fit the bill': Ashwin delivers his verdict on Riyan Parag as 'STOP doing the PR' creates storm

Ashwin delivers his verdict on Riyan Parag as 'STOP doing the PR' creates storm

The four-wicket loss against South Africa in the second ODI in Raipur has triggered a massive debate on X, with fans and experts scrutinising every possible name. Amid this Riyan Parag's name also cropped up but Shreevats Goswami, who has previously played in the IPL, was blunt in his assessment over the Assam cricketer. Goswami straightaway dismissed his name and while doing so he also targeted a X user, calling his account a "Riyan Parag fan page" and urged to "STOP doing the PR".

Not sure where this Riyan Parag fan page has been activated all of a sudden. He is and should no where be close “ at the moment “ for a ODI call up ! So please .. STOP doing the PR

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— Shreevats goswami (@shreevats1) December 4, 2025

The hot take by the former cricketer saw him receive plenty of backlash with the post also going viral that it reached India's legendary spinner Ravichandran Ashwin. Reacting to the same, Ashwin in a lengthy post explained his views on why Parag "won’t fit the bill" in India's ODI setup "at the moment".

"Riyan is a fine fine talent, he does have runs and averages 41 in list A cricket. At the moment requirement is to come in at no 5 or 6, give the required thrust and fill in some overs, hence he won’t fit the bill because he hasn’t batted at that number for his franchisee or Assam," he wrote.

Continuing further, Ashwin painted a picture which everyone seems to have missed in case of Parag. "He started as a finisher for RR and that dint work, he succeeded as a good no 3/4. Ruturaj (Gaikwad) has now been given a chance at 4 and that seems out of position for some, but he has batted at 3 in the IPL over the last season or 2, which now looks like an effort to show how versatile he can be.

"Rutu’s instance could well be a case of communication from the selection front ( either coach, selector or anyone from the management ) or his decision. At this point of time Riyan needs to show that sort of versatility to be able to warrant a place at 5/6," he concluded.

Ok let me try this. Riyan is a fine fine talent, he does have runs and averages 41 in list A cricket. At the moment requirement is to come in at no 5 or 6, give the required thrust and fill in some overs, hence he won’t fit the bill because he hasn’t batted at that number for… https://t.co/wTGdgaN0Pd — Ashwin  (@ashwinravi99) December 5, 2025

The debate had originally started with Goswami suggesting the management to try Tilak Varma instead of Washington Sundar for the No. 5 role. While Tilak has been waiting for his turn on the fringes, Sundar played the last two ODIs in which he managed 13 off 19 and 1 off 8 respectively. With the ball he has just bowled seven overs in both matches combined and conceded 46 runs without picking a wicket.