Assam captain Riyan Parag started the 2023/24 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy with ‘only’ 45 against Odisha, off 19 balls. He then set about to rewrite the record books.

Riyan hit a fifty in each of his next six matches to become the first cricketer to achieve the feat in Twenty20 cricket. It is not an easy feat, for the format demands high-risk batting and, as a consequence, lower individual scores. Riyan does not open either, which makes the record even more remarkable in a 120-balls-an-innings format.

Riyan broke the previous record of five fifties, held by Virender Sehwag (April 21 to May 12, 2012), Hamilton Masakadza (February 11 to June 21, 2012), Kamran Akmal (November 13 to 24, 2017), Jos Buttler (April 8 to 23, 2019), Devon Conway (January 25 to February 13, 2021), and Wayne Madsen (May 20 to 29, 2023).

But Riyan did not stop there. He added another fifty, against Bengal in the pre-quarter-final, to his tally to stretch the world record to seven – all between October 17 and 31, 2023.

Riyan’s record streak:
61 (34 balls, 4 fours, 5 sixes) against Bihar, Navi Mumbai
76* (37 balls, 8 fours, 5 sixes) against Services, Mumbai
53* (29 balls, 2 fours, 4 sixes) against Sikkim, Mumbai
76 (39 balls, 4 fours, 7 sixes) against Chandigarh, Navi Mumbai
72 (37 balls, 5 fours, 5 sixes) against Himachal Pradesh, Navi Mumbai
57* (33 balls, 1 four, 6 sixes) against Kerala, Mumbai
50* (31 balls, 2 fours, 4 sixes) against Bengal, Mohali

Across eight matches, Riyan has scored 490 runs (the most) at a strike rate of 189, while averaging 122.50 at this edition of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. His 39 sixes are also seven clear of anyone else’s tally.

For Assam, no one has scored more than 216 in this edition, while the rest of the team has managed 33 sixes between them. It does not end there, for Riyan’s 11 wickets are also the most for Assam, while his economy of 6.96 is the best among those who have bowled more than five overs.