IPL 2026: 5 sixes, 9 fours! KKR’s 21-year-old blasts brutal ton, rivals on alert | Cricket News
NEW DELHI: Young batter Angkrish Raghuvanshi has given Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) administration and head coach Abhishek Nayar a welcome choice headache together with his explosive hitting in a pre-season intra-squad match at Eden Gardens on Friday.Batting at No. 3, the 21-year-old smashed a shocking unbeaten 103 off simply 55 balls, an innings laced with 9 fours and 5 sixes, at a strike fee of 187.27. His knock powered Purple Knights to a profitable chase of 200 in 19.2 overs.
Three-time IPL champions KKR will start their IPL 2026 marketing campaign in opposition to Mumbai Indians on March 29 on the Wankhede Stadium.With a number of opening choices and a revamped squad, Nayar admitted that finalising the precise mixtures stays KKR’s largest problem forward of the season.Having overhauled their squad after a disappointing 2025 marketing campaign, KKR have added massive names similar to Cameron Green, Finn Allen, Tim Seifert and Rachin Ravindra, however are but to lock of their batting order.“I’m terrible at predicting what can go wrong, but I can just tell you, I don’t know how the tournament will pan out, but I think initially, it’s making sure we get a fit playing XI come (March) 29th,” Nayar stated through the workforce’s first media interplay of the season.KKR, who completed eighth final 12 months with simply 5 wins, are additionally set to discipline a brand new opening mixture within the absence of Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Quinton de Kock.The explosive New Zealand duo of Allen and Seifert — who not too long ago put collectively a file 117-run stand at Eden Gardens to remove South Africa in a T20 World Cup semifinal — are among the many frontrunners.With Sunil Narine, who additionally opens, a certainty within the XI, selecting the remaining three abroad gamers from a pool that features Green, Allen, Seifert, Ravindra and doubtlessly Matheesha Pathirana presents one other choice dilemma.“I think that is a priority right now, making sure we get our combinations right. Because I always believe when you have new combinations in this IPL, it’s about making sure you get your team peaking, yes, everyone in form, but positioning them well enough for them to succeed.“So I feel that as a gaggle might be our first problem and the remaining we’ll see because it comes,” Nayar said.KKR’s middle-order struggles last season — where positions 4 to 8 failed to deliver consistently — remain a concern. However, Nayar emphasised that past performances will have little bearing on the upcoming campaign.He cited Sanju Samson as an example, pointing to how the wicketkeeper-batter overcame poor form before the T20 World Cup and went on to play crucial knocks in India’s title-winning run.“We noticed that with Sanju Samson within the World Cup as nicely. It’s about being there at that second on this event. So we’re very hopeful that our gamers can begin robust.“And if you’re in good form, it doesn’t matter what your name is in this format of the game. I think form counts a lot more than what’s happened in the past,” he added.“I’ve always believed T20 cricket is a game of momentum. It’s a game of form. So what happened a year ago doesn’t really matter as to what’s going to happen.“I feel one thing that’s going to be actually essential is the type of type our boys hit this season. And if everyone seems to be on the peak of their prowess, you anticipate this workforce to do very well like they did a 12 months earlier than final. So I actually consider that it isn’t a lot of what occurred previously,” he stated.
