The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) co-owner Shah Rukh Khan was present in the stands on Wednesday, April 3, for the 16th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 between Delhi Capitals (DC) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam.
KKR unleashed the 18-year-old Angkrish Raghuvanshi in the match against the Rishabh Pant & Co. The batter was sent to the No.3 position to bat with Sunil Narine after the dismissal of Phil Salt in the 5th over of the first innings.
From the very first ball, Raghuvanshi played an attacking brand of cricket and complimented his batting partner Sunil Narine very well, who went all guns blazing and slammed a magnificent half-century.
It never looked like Raghuvanshi was new to the scene and he played some sensational shots including an outrageous reverse swat en-route to his half-century. He reached the feat off 25 balls, with 4 fours and 3 sixes.
As the youngster completed his fifty, Shah Rukh Khan along with the entire stadium stood on their feet to applaud the youngsters. The King of Bollywood was also seen giving a thumbs up after applauding the batter.
Watch: Shah Rukh Khan gives thumbs up to Angkrish Raghuvanshi
— Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka (@Hanji_CricDekho) April 3, 2024
Angkrish Raghuvanshi was eventually dismissed by Anrich Nortje in the 14th over. He was back in the hut after scoring 54 runs off 27 balls, with 5 fours and 3 sixes, as the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) posted 272/7 on the board, which was the second-biggest score in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Speaking during the mid-innings break after his knock, Angkrish Raghuvanshi stated that he was just reacting with his shots to whatever balls he faced. He also revealed that he has been putting in hard yards in the nets in the last few weeks.
He also emphasized on bowling well in the second innings, which KKR certainly did to hanmer the Rishabh Pant-led side and become the top-ranked team in IPL 2024. Raghuvanshi elaborated:
“I just wanted to watch the ball and react. I had worked in the nets for the last few weeks, just had fun watching Sunil play. Having watched the SRH match, nothing’s a winning score, we’ll have to bowl well. Bowl in the right channels and force them into mistakes.”
The performance of the 18-year-old in his debut innings impressed the veteran commentator Harsha Bhogle a lot as he took to his X account to shower rich praise on the batsman for being classy and confident.
‘How does India tap this incredible talent on display? Everyday a new flower blooms. Raghuvanshi looks very classy and confident. And still only 18!,” the legendary commentator wrote on his official X handle.
How does India tap this incredible talent on display? Everyday a new flower blooms. Raghuvanshi looks very classy and confident. And still only 18!
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) April 3, 2024
Former Australia National Cricket Team player Tom Moody also took to X to state that the KKR youngster looks very organized and bats a bit like Shubman Gill.
“Another exciting player unearthed, Angkrish Raghuvanshi looks very organised. Fair to say there’s a bit of Shubman Gill in his game! #DCvKKR,” former Australia National Cricket Team player stated.
Another exciting player unearthed, Angkrish Raghuvanshi looks very organised.
Fair to say there’s a bit of Shubman Gill in his game! #DCvKKR— Tom Moody (@TomMoodyCricket) April 3, 2024
