3 reasons why Angkrish Raghuvanshi is a huge prospect for KKR

Teenage sensation Angkrish Raghuvanshi announced his arrival in style, smashing a scintillating 54 off 27 balls in his IPL debut against the Delhi Capitals on Wednesday (April 3).

Two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders roped in the U-19 World Cup winner for his base price of ₹20 lakhs. It's never easy for a teenager to take IPL cricket like to fish to water but what Raghuvanshi did against the Capitals will give him a lot of confidence going forward.

KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer won the toss and opted to bat and it was carnage on display right from the outset. Sunil Narine and Philip Salt provided a blistering start as KKR bettered their powerplay score from the previous game against RCB and raced off to 88/1 at the end of the first six overs.

The carnage didn't stop there as Narine and Raghuvanshi carried on the onslaught and never allowed the run rate to drop.

A brutal knock of 85 from Sunil Narine and a half-century from Raghuvanshi set the platform for a sizzling finish and the two bonafide finishers Andre Russell and Rinku Singh didn't disappoint.

They blasted 41 and 26 respectively to take KKR to the second-highest score in IPL history of 272. The target proved to be way too much for the Capitals, who never seemed to be in the game and eventually lost by a margin of 106 runs.

Now let us have a look at three reasons why Angkrish Raghuvanshi is a big prospect for KKR going forward.

#1 Raghuvanshi was not overawed by the occasion

One of the youngest players to be part of the ongoing edition of the IPL, Angkrish Raghuvanshi looked at complete ease against a star-studded Delhi Capitals bowling attack. The baby-faced batter didn't care about the opposition and played the ball rather than the bowler.

It's never easy taking the attack to the likes of Anrich Nortje, Ishant Sharma, Khaleel Ahmed and Axar Patel but Raghuvanshi looked in complete control against pacers and spinners alike. Given his tremendous debut, it will be safe to say that he is indeed a big prospect for KKR's future

#2 Some of his shots oozed class and confidence

While several youngsters have already made their mark in the IPL and have gone on to win laurels for their country, Angkrish Raghuvanshi's story is a bit different.

A member of the Indian U-19 World Cup winning squad in 2022, Raghuvanshi wasn't one of those players who was fast-tracked into the national set-up. He had to wait for his opportunity and when it arrived, he grabbed it with both hands.

Some of the shots he played against the Capitals showed the confidence he has in his abilities. It was in the 11th over bowled by Rasikh Salam when Raghuvanshi played an outrageous reverse scoop.

Generally, you see a batter trying to use the pace of the delivery while attempting a reverse scoop. However, Raghuvanshi got into position early and absolutely smashed that over the third-man fence. The youngster seemed to have all his bases covered and could play shots all around the wicket.

#3 Very good temperament for an 18-year-old

Raghuvanshi addresses the press conference after KKR's win.

The blistering half-century from Raghuvanshi was decorated with five fours and three sixes. A strike rate of 200 proved that he can mould to the modern facets of the game. However, it was not all about the brute force and power that Sunil Narine was unleashing at the other end.

Raghuvanshi's knock was more of a pure classical batter with the most modern strokes in his armory. There was a phase in the match when he was happy to give the strike back to Narine who was absolutely muscling it all around. This showed that the youngster is a team man and ready to play according to the game situation.