There’s speculation that Riyan Parag is contender for India's T20I squad against Australia: Aakash Chopra

Hosting JioCinema’s daily sports show ‘#AAKASHVANI,’ Aakash Chopra selected five top performers of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy that concluded on Monday. 

1. Riyan Parag: His performance was not that great in the knockouts but he scored 510 runs in 10 innings, averaging 85 at a strike rate of 183. He hit seven half-centuries. There’s speculation that when the Indian team for the Australia T20 series is announced, he will be among the contenders. He is Assam’s best player but once you start doing well against good opponents consistently, everybody stands up and takes note. In the past, he has been trolled for not living up to expectations, but this time Parag has trolled the trollers. 

 2. T Ravi Teja: Hyderabad’s Ravi Teja looks like an innocuous bowler, and one gets a sense that he’ll be hit easily. But no one was able to hit him easily. He took six wickets against Chhattisgarh and also ended up with 19 wickets in the tournament. 

 3. Atit Sheth: He’s a bowler from Baroda. He took his team to the final and is a regular among wickets. He took 18 wickets in 9 games and at an acceptable economy rate of a little over 7 runs per over. He does not hesitate in pitching the ball up to the batsmen. There are chances that he’ll get hit but he also has an equal opportunity to claim wickets. 

 4. Anmolpreet Singh: He batted well during the tournament and also hit a century in the final. He has had a few chances in the IPL but has not been able to make a solid impression. He could have done better there. He’s one cricketer who does not throw away his wicket. 

 5. Abhishek Sharma: He plays for Punjab and scored 485 runs in 10 innings at an average of 48.5 and a strike rate of 192. He was very, very good and also hit a couple of hundreds and three half-centuries. It’s fun to watch his innings. He has an upright stance. He plays well on the off side but is also adept at playing well on the leg side.