IPL 2026: Raghuvanshi smacks 55-ball hundred in intra-squad match; Rahane tightlipped on KKR batting order

 

Angkrish Raghuvanshi  Image: Debasis Sen

Angkrish Raghuvanshi boosted his chances of earning a place in KKR’s playing XI by scoring a brilliant century off just 55 balls in the first intra-squad match at Eden Gardens on Friday night, ahead of IPL 2026. The talented Mumbai batter played a key role in helping Purple Knights chase down the target of 219/4 set by Golden Knights. Purple Knights were led by KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane, while Golden Knights were captained by Rinku Singh.

Raghuvanshi walked in at No. 3 after Finn Allen gave the Purple Knights a quick start with a brisk 23, before being dismissed by Navdeep Saini, who is currently on a trial for the Shah Rukh Khan–owned franchise. The young batter started carefully, maintaining a steady scoring rate before accelerating during the middle overs. Once he found his rhythm, Raghuvanshi shifted gears smoothly, bringing up his century in just 55 balls and steering his team to victory.

With the ball, Kartik Tyagi was the standout performer, finishing with impressive figures of 3 for 30 in his four overs. Vaibhav Arora and Varun Chakravarthy contributed with two wickets each, while Blessing Muzarabani added one to the tally in the first innings. For the Golden Knights, Tim Seifert and Rinku led the scoring with 47 and 40 runs respectively, while Sarthak Ranjan played a quick cameo, smashing 37 off just 16 deliveries.

The three-time former champions have multiple opening options, with the likes of Allen, Seifert, Ranghuvanshi, Rahul Tripathi, Sunil Narine and Ajinkya Rahane in the ranks. KKR captain also opened for the franchise in a few matches last season. The franchise has revamped the batting unit for IPL 2026 by adding Cameron Green, along with the New Zealand trio of Allen, Seifert and Rachin Ravindra.

Despite the abundance of choices, KKR captain Rahane remained tightlipped about the batting order and combinations.

“The batting group which we have this year is amazing. I mean, most of the batters, they’re in good form. Guys from overseas are also in good, very good nick, had a very good World Cup as well,” Rahane said during KKR’s first media interaction of the season.

He added, “See, frankly, I’m not going to tell you the lineup, what lineup we are going to go with, but as I said, all the batters who are here at the moment are very good in nick, very good in nick, and we just started our camp with this before, so really excited for the season.”

Rahane was the top scorer (390 runs) for KKR last season, but that did not prevent his side from finishing eighth with just five wins in 14 matches.

Follow Revsportz for latest sports news

The post IPL 2026: Raghuvanshi smacks 55-ball hundred in intra-squad match; Rahane tightlipped on KKR batting order appeared first on Sports News Portal | Revsportz.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Consistent Nicholas Pooran can be world’s top T20 batter

Image
Nicholas Pooran’s carnage against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Image: IPL He has always had a calmness about him. A very West Indian relaxed kind of mindset and demeanour. And having seen adversity, he knows that one needs to celebrate and value the good that comes your way. The urge to keep getting better, and be the best version of oneself, is what defines the new Nicholas Pooran. That’s what came through in the candid conversations we had on the IPL and his own approach to batting. Not overawed by the 21-crore price tag or the weight of expectations, Pooran is simply going about his job. He knows he can hit the ball miles and is keeping it simple. Go and do what you do best for hours and hours at practice, and in doing so, help your team Lucknow Super Giants] demolish opponents. “The best part about this franchise is they have never put me under pressure,” he told me. “When you are paid a lot of money, there is always pressure. Not so much from outside but from within. You know you ne...
Read more

Turning the clock back by 0.12 seconds

Image
MS Dhoni with a stumping dismissal against MI in the IPL 2025 in Chennai (PC: BCCI) The moment of the Chennai Super Kings-Mumbai Indians match lasted less than half a second. It was the 11 th over of the MI innings. Suryakumar Yadav was bringing the batting side back in the game. Noor Ahmad beat him on a forward charge, the ball spun away, and the right-hander’s hind leg got off the ground before he planted it back. That was all MS Dhoni needed to brush the bails off. At a packed MA Chidambaram Stadium decked in yellow and chanting his name, that was the only occasion when Dhoni was in ‘action’. It showed that at 43, his reflexes have not slackened and he has got sharper in plotting dismissals. This one was replayed on TV again and again during the match and commentators couldn’t help but keep talking about it. He had conceded four byes on the leg side in the same over. But this was the Dhoni who elevated stumping to another level. When it comes to waiting for batters to err wit...
Read more

From scoring ton in Patna to taking on bouncers like a ‘bullet’ in Perth – Nitish’s story of perseverance

Image
Nitish Kumar Reddy during the 1st innings of the Perth Test (PC: Debasis Sen) “Grateful, an innings to remember.” Nitish Reddy had posted the aforesaid statement on his Instagram account after cracking his maiden first-class hundred, against Bihar, in Patna. It wasn’t just about Nitish scoring an unbeaten 159 for Andhra. It was also about the way he scored those runs. He essayed a few crunchy drives off Veer Pratap Singh and also showcased his range of shots against Ashutosh Aman, the left-arm spinner, by playing with the turn and also against the turn. This hundred from Nitish came just before the 2024 IPL season, where he accumulated 303 runs. Once again, it wasn’t just about Nitish accruing 303 runs as he accumulated them with a touch of class. Soon, the Indian think-tank drafted the all-rounder into the limited-overs set-up. Although he missed the Zimbabwe series because of a hernia problem, it was crystal clear that the coaching staff had a vision – to pick him for the tour o...
Read more