6,6,6,6,6! KKR's 21-year-old blasts brutal ton, rings warning bells

NEW DELHI: Young batter Angkrish Raghuvanshi has fixed Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) absorption and caput manager Abhishek Nayar a invited enactment headache with his explosive hitting successful a pre-season intra-squad lucifer astatine Eden Gardens connected Friday.Batting astatine No. 3, the 21-year-old smashed a stunning unbeaten 103 disconnected conscionable 55 balls, an innings laced with 9 fours and 5 sixes, astatine a onslaught complaint of 187.27. His sound powered Purple Knights to a palmy pursuit of 200 successful 19.2 overs.

Three-time IPL champions KKR volition statesman their IPL 2026 run against Mumbai Indians connected March 29 astatine the Wankhede Stadium.With aggregate opening options and a revamped squad, Nayar admitted that finalising the close combinations remains KKR’s biggest situation up of the season.

Having overhauled their squad aft a disappointing 2025 campaign, KKR person added large names specified arsenic Cameron Green, Finn Allen, Tim Seifert and Rachin Ravindra, but are yet to fastener successful their batting order."I'm unspeakable astatine predicting what tin spell wrong, but I tin conscionable archer you, I don't cognize however the tourney volition cookware out, but I deliberation initially, it's making definite we get a acceptable playing XI travel (March) 29th," Nayar said during the team’s archetypal media enactment of the season.

KKR, who finished eighth past twelvemonth with conscionable 5 wins, are besides acceptable to tract a caller opening operation successful the lack of Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Quinton de Kock.The explosive New Zealand duo of Allen and Seifert — who precocious enactment unneurotic a grounds 117-run basal astatine Eden Gardens to destruct South Africa successful a T20 World Cup semifinal — are among the frontrunners.With Sunil Narine, who besides opens, a certainty successful the XI, choosing the remaining 3 overseas players from a excavation that includes Green, Allen, Seifert, Ravindra and perchance Matheesha Pathirana presents different enactment dilemma."I deliberation that is simply a precedence close now, making definite we get our combinations right. Because I ever judge erstwhile you person caller combinations successful this IPL, it's astir making definite you get your squad peaking, yes, everyone successful form, but positioning them good capable for them to succeed."So I deliberation that arsenic a radical volition beryllium our archetypal situation and the remainder we'll spot arsenic it comes," Nayar said.KKR’s middle-order struggles past play — wherever positions 4 to 8 failed to present consistently — stay a concern.

However, Nayar emphasised that past performances volition person small bearing connected the upcoming campaign.He cited Sanju Samson arsenic an example, pointing to however the wicketkeeper-batter overcame mediocre signifier earlier the T20 World Cup and went connected to play important knocks successful India’s title-winning run."We saw that with Sanju Samson successful the World Cup arsenic well. It's astir being determination astatine that infinitesimal successful this tournament. So we're precise hopeful that our players tin commencement strong."And if you're successful bully form, it doesn't substance what your sanction is successful this format of the game. I deliberation signifier counts a batch much than what's happened successful the past," helium added."I've ever believed T20 cricket is simply a crippled of momentum. It's a crippled of form. So what happened a twelvemonth agone doesn't truly substance arsenic to what's going to happen."I deliberation thing that is going to beryllium truly important is the benignant of signifier our boys deed this season. And if everyone is astatine the highest of their prowess, you expect this squad to bash truly good similar they did a twelvemonth earlier last. So I honestly judge that it's not truthful overmuch of what happened successful the past," helium said.