Ahead of the IPL 2026 season, Angkrish Raghuvanshi remained coy about his preferred role with KKR in the upcoming campaign. The Mumbai batsman told India Today in February that he is ready to bat anywhere for the team. However, during the match between the KKR teams on Friday, March 20, he made his preferred batting position clear at the Eden Gardens. Batting at number three, he scored a match-winning hundred as he chased down 200 runs.
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Raghuvanshi came in at the start of the innings for the Purple Knights and started cautiously, keeping the score steady. He then accelerated smoothly in the middle overs, reaching his hundred off 55 balls and leading his team to victory.
Finn Allen provided the early momentum with a quick 23 runs, creating a solid platform for the chase. Later in the innings, Anukul Roy supported Raghuvanshi’s efforts with an unbeaten 28 off 17 balls to finish the game.
Kartik Tyagi was the standout player on the bowling front, taking three wickets for 30 runs in his four overs. Vaibhav Arora and Varun Chakravarthy took two wickets each while Blessing Muzarabani took one wicket during the first innings.
Earlier, Tim Seifert and Rinku Singh were the top scorers in the first innings scoring 47 and 40 runs respectively. Sarthak Ranjan impressed with a quickfire 37 off just 16 balls, which bodes well for the upcoming season.
RAHANE AND UMRAN MALIK FLOP
While the KKR faithful had a lot to be happy about, the early form of skipper Ajinkya Rahane and pacer Umran Malik may have been cause for concern. Rahane could only score two runs from the four balls he faced while Umran escaped runs in the 3.2 overs he bowled.
The J&K pacer dismantled Raghuvanshi who hit 23 runs in one over against him as he finished the day wicketless conceding 47 runs. KKR will be without them lead pacemaker Harshit Rana, who is still recovering from surgery.
While the search for a replacement continues, Tyagi and Umran are expected to fill the void left by Harshit. KKR will face Mumbai Indians in their first match at the Wankhede Stadium on March 29.
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Published on:
21 March 2026 08:44 IST
