Angkrish Raghuvanshi speaks to Sarah Waris about his IPL rise, adapting across formats, and the mentors who’ve shaped his journey so far.
Angkrish Raghuvanshi first caught the internet's attention with a beaming smile on live television last year. Moments after becoming the youngest since 2008 to score a fifty in his debut IPL innings, the then 18-year-old found himself face-to-face with Harsha Bhogle. As the veteran broadcaster began showering him with praise, Raghuvanshi, without hesitation, interrupted with the eager enthusiasm of someone still soaking it all in: “Hi, how are you? Excited to speak with you.” It revealed the teenager behind the cricketer, starry-eyed and buzzing, someone not yet accustomed to the grind of the big world of the IPL.
Raghuvanshi had just scored 54 off 27 for Kolkata Knight Riders, helping the side to a massive total of 272-7 against Delhi Capitals. Batting at No.3 after the early departure of Phil Salt, he got off the mark with back-to-back fours against Anrich Nortje: a leg-side bouncer swivel-pulled over fine leg and a back-of-length ball punched through point.
From there, he unfurled an array of innovative strokes, including reverse hits against Rasikh Salam and Axar Patel, and a pick-up six off Sumit Kumar, all executed with composure beyond his years.
It wasn't a flawless knock. When he was on 13, he tried to reverse scoop a delivery with extra bounce, only managing a top-edge that fell short of the fielder, but his self-assurance never wavered. Much of that, Raghuvanshi says, stems from his long association with coach Abhishek Nayar.
“He has worked on a lot of my T20 game. He taught me that it’s more about mind than skills, and it's about using tactical moves and trying to figure out what the team needs in those situations. I have been asked to use my mind and score runs accordingly, and it has been a mental switch,” he told Wisden.com.
The Delhi game marked the beginning of an eye-catching campaign. As KKR found rhythm and racked up wins, Raghuvanshi, a late addition to the XI in place of the injured Nitish Rana, played his part to perfection. His 163 runs came at a strike rate of 155.23, a stark contrast to his T20 career strike rate of 115.96 before the season.
“People bowl faster here in the IPL, turn the ball more. It’s just tougher all around here, so I had to practice harder to make my game better,” he reflects on the switch from age-group and domestic cricket to the big leagues. That meant honing the reverse scoop in training, pushing fitness levels, and even sprinting up 30 flights of stairs in set times.
“It's more about playing as much cricket as you can, and gaining experience," he says. "You understand yourself better, and you understand how you can adapt across formats. It’s simple: Play as many matches, but more than that, I practice as much as I can.”
The 2025 season was less kind to KKR, who finished seventh, but Raghuvanshi remained a bright spark. Bought back by the franchise at the auction, he emerged as one of only two KKR batters to score 300 runs. His command over spinners was particularly notable, against whom he scored 138 runs, the most by anyone in the team, while striking at 132.69.
At Eden Gardens, where surfaces varied a lot, Raghuvanshi often assumed the role of anchor in the middle overs. Between overs 7-16, he averaged 60.50 against spin, with a strike rate of 131.52. Among KKR batters who faced at least 25 balls of spin in that phase, he had the highest strike rate, hit the most boundaries (12), and had the lowest dot-ball percentage (20.65). In a batting order that faltered around him, Raghuvanshi’s ability to absorb pressure and rotate strike became invaluable.
Raghuvanshi credits his time in Mumbai, where competition for spots is fierce, and batting alongside Suryakumar Yadav, for his sharp spin game. “Playing on the pitches in Mumbai has helped me develop my game against spin, because the ball turns a lot on some pitches in Mumbai. I like to learn from Suryakumar Yadav on how to play spin. I try to watch him bat and what he tries to do against spinners. He plays the field and the bowlers, and I like watching and learning from that.”
Raghuvanshi also represents a generation of batters redefining the boundaries between formats. He made his first-class debut last season, playing three games, including making 92 against Odisha, with three sixes. He admits that Nayar has given him the confidence to attempt audacious strokes even in red-ball cricket, with the goal being to normalise innovation, regardless of format or opposition.
This is in stark contrast to the orthodox batters who have grown up in India in the previous generations. Delhi Capitals mentor Kevin Pietersen recently touched upon this, offering a window into the complexities of navigating different formats, particularly for senior players like KL Rahul. “When you grow up as a youngster, like he did, you’re taught defence, elbow up playing in the V. Then, all of a sudden, in your 30s, you’ve got to change and become a different type of player for a format that’s evolving all the time. It’s very, very difficult,” he had said.
Despite the challenges of switching across formats and the lure of T20s, Raghuvanshi is keen to become an all-format player: "I want to play all formats of the game, including Test cricket." The different style of coaching being implemented for youngsters has also made it easier. The more inclusive and non-conservative approach towards the game, where more players are encouraged to express themselves irrespective of the format, has allowed the switch between formats to be more seamless for the Raghuvanshis than it has been for the Rahuls.
In a short time, Raghuvanshi has already experienced several highs. He was India’s highest run-scorer in their triumphant 2022 Under-19 World Cup campaign, won the Under-16 Vijay Merchant Trophy in 2019, and impressed in the Under-19 Vinoo Mankad tournament, earning a place in the Asia Cup squad in 2021. In that tournament, he scored an unbeaten 56 in the final to help India clinch the title against Sri Lanka.
There have been some lows too, like being dropped from Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy clash against Meghalaya after the return of the India stars in the side, but he took it in his stride. Raghuvanshi returned to play for the Under-23 team less than a week later and smashed a double hundred against Hyderabad in the CK Nayudu Trophy. He attributes his ability to stay level-headed and grounded to Nayar’s influence. “Mental conditioning is very important for a cricketer to deal with failures, expectations, and also to adapt to different situations. If there's a failure, you try and move on quickly to the next game, just focusing on how you can do better and make the team win in the next game.
“If I have a bad day, Nayar Sir used to tell me that I shouldn't give up, but prepare more so I can feel better about my skill-set, and go into the next game feeling well. So, I try to follow that.”
KKR, unsurprisingly, remains close to Raghuvanshi’s heart. It was at the franchise’s academy that his journey in Mumbai began after moving from Delhi, and it was there that he first saw Shubman Gill up close. The ease with which Gill tackled pace left a lasting impression on the youngster, who has since often spoken of wanting to model his game on the India star.
While Gill’s time with the franchise ended before it could truly flourish, KKR may now have in Raghuvanshi a rare find, someone they’ve nurtured from the early stages and who has the potential to become the homegrown star they’ve long searched for but never quite managed to hold on to.
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