Watch: Riyan Parag's bold celebration in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy as Ashok Malhotra aplogises for his remarks

A video of Assam batter Riyan Parag gesturing towards the commentary box and reportedly showing his displeasure with commentator Ashok Malhotra’s comments has gone viral on social media. Former India cricketer Malhotra had labelled the Assam players of his time as “second-class citizens”. Malhotra made the remark after Bengal suffered a shock loss to Assam in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy pre-quarterfinals in Mohali on Tuesday. Malhotra, who also coached Bengal after his playing days, said on air, “Humare zamane mein Assam ke team ko second-class citizens mana jata thaa (During my playing days, the Assam team was called second-class citizen.” Riyan Parag, who scored an unbeaten 31-ball 50 in the same match, was seen gesturing that the Assam team today is far superior to their Bengal counterparts after making his fifty.

Celebration by Riyan Parag after his 7th consecutive 50 in T20 Cricket.pic.twitter.com/Z6PitN1XYc

— Riyanhive (@riyanparagfc_) October 31, 2023

Meanwhile, Malhotra has apologised for his disparaging remarks. Malhotra, who played seven Tests and 20 ODIs for the country, issued an unconditional apology on X following an uproar, saying, “I apologise profusely if I have hurt Assam people’s sentiments with my comments during the Assam v Bengal game last evening. “I am sorry. It was totally unintentional and was trying to speak about their progress. I regret it and give an unconditional apology.”

I apologise profusely if I have hurt Assam people’s sentiments with my comments during the Assam v Bengal game last evening. I am sorry. It was totally unintentional & was trying to speak about their progress. I regret it and give an unconditional apology.

— Ashok Malhotra (@AshokMalhotra57) November 1, 2023

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Coming back to the match. Assam qualified for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy quarter-finals by beating Bengal. Assam were powered by an all-round show by Parag, who had earlier returned with figures of 4-0-23-2 with the ball. Akash Sengupta’s 3/29 also played a part in restricting Bengal to a modest 138/8 in their 20 overs. Invited to bat, a few Bengal batters got starts but failed to convert them into big knocks. Assam completed the chase in 17.5 overs for the loss of two wickets. With PTI inputs