Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) youngster Angkrish Raghuvanshi enthralled fans with an entertaining knock of 71 runs from 46 balls to power his team to 192/4 in their IPL 2026 match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in Raipur on Wednesday.
Angkrish Raghuvanshi walked out to bat at No.3 as early as in the third over, and he played a balanced knock as per the situation.
KKR were 23/1 in the third over once the 21-year-old walked out to bat, and even though he lost skipper Ajinkya Rahane soon after, his 68-run partnership with Cameron Green for the third wicket changed the complexion of the innings.
Raghuvanshi collected his first maximum in the fourth over of the innings by clearing the wide long-on fence while facing a short length all from Jacob Duffy. He continued his balanced approach, rotating the strike with Green while also collecting boundaries at regular intervals.
In the 11th over, Raghuvanshi punished Rasikh Dar Salam for consecutive boundaries to get to his 40s, and he eventually got to his half-century off 32 deliveries, hitting five fours and two sixes.
He never seemed like slowing down even after his half-century, as he slammed a maximum over extra-cover to punish Krunal Pandya for his fullish length ball in the 15th over.
How fans reacted to Angkrish Raghuvanshi's fifty
Fans were impressed with Raghuvanshi's knock. Here are a few reactions:
Angkrish Raghuvanshi's IPL career
Angkrish Raghuvanshi made his IPL debut during the 2024 season, and amassed 54 runs from 27 balls in his first innings against Delhi Capitals (DC). Overall,
Raghuvanshi has played 33 IPL matches across the three seasons so far, having aggregated 803 runs at a strike-rate of 142.37. The Delhi-born cricketer has registered six half-centuries, and his score of 71 on Wednesday is his new highest score in the IPL.
Angkrish Raghuvanshi is currently Kolkata Knight Riders’ highest run-getter in IPL 2026, with 340 runs from 11 matches at a strike-rate of 139.34. Rinku Singh is in second place in KKR top run-getters’ list with 286 runs from 11 matches at a strike-rate of 148.95.
Former Australia cricketer Shane Watson recently compared Raghuvanshi to Sanju Samson. "I've been fortunate over the years to see some unbelievably talented young cricketers in the IPL," Watson, who is an assistant coach of KKR, said at a pre-match press conference on Tuesday. I remember seeing Sanju Samson as a 17-year-old and being blown away by his skill level Angkrish is another one of those players," he added.
Watson went onto praise Sanju Samson's skill development. "His skill development at 21 is honestly astonishing. We've seen flashes of what he can do, but there's a lot more to come. What stands out is his ability to adapt to different conditions and bowlers while still having a wide range of shot options,” he explained.
Kolkata Knight Riders are currently in eighth place with nine points from 10 matches. After the match against RCB, KKR are scheduled to take on Gujarat Titans (16 May), Mumbai Indians (20 May) and Delhi Capitals (24 May) in their last three league stage matches.