India and Assam all-rounder Riyan Parag has been declared fit to return to action for the first time since October 2024 having gotten his chronic shoulder issue sorted once and for all. Parag last was seen in action in the three-match T20I series against Bangladesh and missed the South Africa T20Is in November as he was set to go under the knife for his shoulder injury. Parag will now be leading the Assam squad in the seventh-round game of the Ranji Trophy against Saurashtra, starting January 30.
Due to the rehab and recovery following the surgery, Parag missed out on India's Champions Trophy squad, having played the Sri Lanka ODIs. With Parag being able to take crucial wickets in the few ODIs and T20Is he featured in, he was slowly becoming an important member of the white-ball outfit. However, there's still time for the teams to announce their final squads and Parag could make the late dash, firstly by proving his fitness against Saurashtra.
Parag's return will be a great boost to Assam, who are floating at the bottom of the sea in Group D, having lost a couple of games and drawn four. Averaging 75.60, Parag had a star turnout last season in the Ranji Trophy and was one of the big reasons why Assam had a better run. Parag on the back of a couple of sensational domestic seasons and finally a breakout IPL in 2024, made it to the national side, debuting in the Zimbabwe series.
The likes of Virat Kohli and KL Rahul are also set to return to the Ranji fold on January 30 for Delhi and Karnataka respectively, with a few of the Indian Test stars already making an appearance in the domestic red-ball competition last week.
Assam squad for Ranji Trophy clash vs Saurashtra: Riyan Parag (capt), Denish Das (vice-capt), Mukhtar Hussain, Mrinmoy Dutta, Rahul Singh, Dipjyoti Saikia, Parvez Musaraf, Sumit Ghadigaonkar (wk), Rishav Das, Anurag Talukdar (wk), Avinav Choudhury, Sibsankar Roy, Akash Sengupta, Pradyun Saikia, Amlanjyoti Das