Riyan Parag caught in a corner: Shubman Gill, Ananya Panday's heartwarming interaction sparks online frenzy

Fans on the internet were buzzing with excitement as behind-the-scenes footage of an endorsement featuring Indian cricketer Shubman Gill and Bollywood actor Ananya Panday was released. Shubman and Ananya, both stars in their own rights, joined forces for a captivating earphone commercial. While collaborations between cricketers and actors are common, social media users couldn't help but mention Riyan Parag in the mix, making the buzz even more electrifying.

For those unaware, Parag has been trolled on social media ever since his YouTube search 'Ananya Panday and Sara Ali Khan' caught the attention of the public during a live stream, with the batter being subjected to the butt of all jokes. And on Thursday, as Parag featured in the second-round Duleep Trophy match for India A against India B, fans flooded the social media with his reference again. Check out reactions.

Gill and Parag were part of the first-round Duleep Trophy fixtures before the former was released by the India A squad ahead of the 1st Test against Bangladesh starting September 19. Gill, along with the rest of the 15 members of the squad are to assemble in Chennai today for a preparatory camp. Parag, however, continues to play in the Duleep Trophy, where after playing an entertaining knock off 37 in 29 balls, featuring five fours and a six, he was sent packing by Arshdeep Singh.

As for Gill, he is set to resume his role at No. 3 for India. Gill enjoyed tremendous success batting at a spot made famous by Cheteshwar Pujara and the legendary Rahul Dravid, scoring 452 runs from nine innings with two centuries and fifties each against England earlier this year. And with Gill being promoted as Team India's vice-captain in both Tests and T20Is – no one has been named Rohit Sharma's deputy in Tests – Gill will be expected to do even better when India's home season starts next week.

Parag, meanwhile, is just starting off in Team India's scheme of things. He made his debut in the Zimbabwe T20Is, scoring 24 in two innings before heading to Sri Lanka. There, Parag scored 7 and 26 but the surprise package was his bowling. In the 2nd T20Is, Parag unleashed magic with his leg-spin, off-spin combined, picking up 3/7 to give India a famous win. The sight of Parag rolling his arms over is straight out of head coach Gautam Gambhir's handbook, who is find of having multi-utility players in the squad.

Surprisingly though, teammates Gill and Parag had disappointing outings in the first-round matches. While Parag managed 30 and 31, giving away good starts in both innings, Gill cut an unconvincing figure with scores of 25 and 21.