He didn’t get a chance to bat on his IPL debut but when the chance came, Angkrish Raghuvanshi made sure the Kolkata Knight Riders fans will remember him for some time to come and that he’ll get an extended run in a batting line-up brimming with superstars.
On Wednesday night against the Delhi Capitals in an IPL 2024 contest, an 18-year-old baby-faced Raghuvanshi walked in to bat at no.3 – just a little over two years after he had played a vital role in India winning the 2022 ICC U19 World Cup in the Caribbean.
Alongside him was a red-hot Sunil Narine who was connecting nearly every delivery DC bowlers threw at him. It wouldn’t have been a bad strategy to just sit back and let Narine do his magic and provide him a solid support from one end but Raghuvanshi wanted to leave his mark as well.
And he too began peppering the Vizag boundary with exquisite shots. Showing no mercy to the likes of Anrich Nortje, Raghuvanshi thrashed the first two balls of his IPL career that he faced from the South African pacer for a pair of boundaries.
Soon he raised a 25-ball half-century and made 54 before departing.
KKR captain Shreyas Iyer was quite pleased with the shots Raghuvanshi played during his stay in the middle.
“He (Raghuvanshi) was fearless right from ball one,” Iyer said at the post-match presentation. “When I see him at training, his work ethic is phenomenal. He’s top notch in terms of analysing the situation. He’s a smart batter when it comes to reading the situation and the way he played today, the shots were pleasing to the eye.”
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KKR hammered DC bowlers in Vizag with Narine hitting 39-ball 85. They scored 272/7 – the second highest total in IPL history and Iyer says it never occurred to them that they could’ve broken the all-time record that Sunrisers Hyderabad had set just last week.
“Not at all, to be honest. We thought we will reach around 210-220 but 270 is like an icing on the cake,” Iyer said.
Iyer said the team management has asked Narine to maximise the Powerplay and if he fails, they have got enough batters to step up.
“As I said in a pre-match interview that Sunny’s (Narine) job is just to go out there and free his arm and see to it that we have a great Powerplay. Even if he doesn’t, we’ve got other batters who can take on the bowlers. This is the mindset, we keep the intent strong,” he said.
KKR’s biggest worry before this match was the form of their star pacer Mitchell Starc who had conceded 100 runs in his last eight overs and had no wicket to show for. However, against DC, he put up an improved show, taking 2/25 from four overs.
“It’s great to see all the bowlers also stepping up at the right time and taking the responsibility, capitalising on the overs and owning their yards. Also the way they stood for each other that’s what we thrive on,” Iyer said.
There was an injury concern for KKR though when fast bowler Harshit Rana walked off the field without bowling a single delivery.
Iyer said he’s not aware of the issue.
“I also don’t know. On the field he (Rana) was holding his shoulder and I have been in that situation previously so I know how it feels,” he said.
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