Angkrish Raghuvanshi of Kolkata Knight Riders hitting a over boundary during match 16 of the Indian Premier League season 17 (IPL 2024) between Delhi Capitals and Kolkata Knight Riders held at the Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam on the 3rd April 2024. (Photo by Saikat Das / Sportzpics for IPL)Delhi-born Angkrish Raghuvanshi who made his Indian Premier League (IPL) debut for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) as an impact player, played a blistering innings for his franchise against the Delhi Capitals on Wednesday when he scored 50 off 25 balls.
The innings which was peppered with 4 fours and 3 sixes took the match away from Delhi with a 104-run partnership with Sunil Narine. The youngster would ultimately get dismissed for 54 by Anrich Nortje but the damage had already been done to the DC bowlers.
Raghuvanshi left Gurgaon at the age of 11 and moved to Mumbai to hone his skills. The opener amassed 278 runs in the 2022 U-19 World Cup, where India ended up being the champions under the captaincy of Yash Dhull.
Meet the youngest player to score a 50 on #IPL debut! 👏 https://t.co/J5CpxI3d6y
— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) April 3, 2024
Angkrish younger brother Krishan, a tennis player, was detected blood cancer when he was a toddler.
“Angkrish used to sleep with us in the hospitals. Those five years were the most dreadful. He will never leave his baby brother alone. Yes, we have provided him with everything, but the process of Krishan’s treatment made him mentally tough,” Angkrish’s Mother Malika Raghuvanshi had told this newspaper.
Raghuvanshi made his List A and T20 debut for Mumbai in 2023. However, the 18-year-old has an excellent CK Nayudu Trophy, where he amassed 765 runs in nine matches.
The returns in the domestic white-ball tournaments were not eye-catching but he was picked by KKR in the auction, where Abhishek Nayar his childhood coach is member of the support staff.
Wednesday’s innings against DC in Vizag was filled with some jaw-dropping classic stroke play with a dash of innovation sprinkled in. Angkrish, who wears No 18 and was India’s top scorer at the World Cup couple of years back, impressed with his wrist work back then and also the ability to play the pickup shot over midwicket.
The 18-year-old, walking in at No 3 on Wednesday to join a rampant Narine, showed why he is so highly rated. A reverse scoop for six off a pacer was a highlight as was a swat over midwicket. Even when Narine was lighting up the stadium, Angkrish didn’t just sit back and play second fiddle. He took DC’s bowlers on.
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