On the eve of Kolkata Knight Riders’ Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 encounter against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Raipur, assistant coach Shane Watson had a wide grin across his face while answering a question about Angkrish Raghuvanshi in the pre-match press conference.
“I’ve been so fortunate over the years of coming to the IPL and being able to see some ridiculously talented young cricketers,” the Australian said. “I remember seeing Sanju Samson for the first time, and I’d never seen a 17-year-old with that skill development. I continue to see that with Vaibhav Soorayavanshi. Angkrish is another one of those,” he said.
“It is quite astonishing, to be honest. I know we haven’t seen a consistent explosion of skill, but we will,” the former all-rounder declared. “It’s mind-blowing for me to be able to see his ability to adapt to different conditions, different bowlers and have all the skill options and shot options to be able to navigate that as well as he possibly can,” he added.
On Wednesday, against RCB, the 21-year-old gave a clear account of what his coach had explained the day before. Coming in to bat after the fall of an early wicket and seeing his skipper depart soon after, the young Mumbai batter had his back against the wall.
But in a knock that displayed immense maturity and exceptional reading of the conditions on offer, the lanky batter tallied his highest score in the IPL to lead the way with the bat for his side.
“I was very impressed with the way he batted because the ball was really nipping around initially. [Josh] Hazlewood and Bhuvi [Bhuvneshwar Kumar] were hitting the length. I felt he was tactically very astute,” KKR head coach Abhishek Nayar said after the game.
“I thought he paced his innings well. Played square of the wicket, used the angles really well, picked his bowlers. I didn’t really feel that he was uncomfortable at any point. He belonged there, and that really stood out to me,” he added.
When he made his IPL debut with the franchise in 2024, Raghuvanshi played the role of an accelerator, striking at an impressive 155.23 through the season despite scoring just 163 runs at an average of 23.28.
The following year, after being bought back in the auction for Rs. 3 crore, he was shifted down the order and never really got going. Whilst there was a marginal improvement in his average from the previous year, the strike rate fell to 139.53, below average for a player batting in the middle order.
Despite this inconsistency with the bat, the Knight Riders kept their faith in him, retaining him for another year in the midst of a mass clear-out. Raghuvanshi has repaid the franchise’s faith this year, leading the run-scoring charts for the side with 340 runs in 11 innings at an average of 42.50.
This year, he has also been given the added responsibility of being the team’s first-choice wicketkeeper.
“He’s done a brilliant job keeping. You have to think that he’s not a full-time wicketkeeper. He’s worked ridiculously hard. For keepers, you know that they have done a really good job when you don’t realise they are there,” Watson said.
“He’s a highly skilled young man who just can’t get enough of learning and getting better. There are dream students you want to work with as a coach, and he’s definitely one of them,” he added.
Published on May 14, 2026