IPL 2026: ‘He is a special player’ - Rohan Gavaskar backs Angkrish Raghuvanshi for long-term KKR role

Former Indian cricketer Rohan Gavaskar believes Angkrish Raghuvanshi could become a long-term asset for Kolkata Knight Riders and represent the franchise for the next five to ten years.

Speaking after KKR’s crucial win over Gujarat Titans at the Eden Gardens, Gavaskar praised the youngster’s maturity and potential, calling him a special talent. He pointed out that Raghuvanshi had already represented India at the Under-19 World Cup at just 17 years of age, highlighting the promise he showed early in his career.

The youngster played a key role in keeping KKR’s playoff hopes alive, smashing 82 off 44 deliveries with the help of four boundaries and seven sixes.

“He (Raghuvanshi) is a special player. He’s still only 21 years old, very young. He played for India Under-19 in 2022, which means four years ago. So, when he was just 16 or 17 years old, he was already representing India Under-19. That itself told everyone that he was a special player. If you are playing Under-19 cricket at the age of 16 or 17, it shows that you have something special, real talent. So, there is no doubt that he is the kind of player who is going to have a long career,” said Gavaskar on Cricbuzz.

“He even kept wickets. Meanwhile, an international wicketkeeper like Finn Allen did not keep wickets. That also shows that KKR see him as someone who can become their wicketkeeper-batter in the future. KKR have given him a defined role, and it seems the franchise views him as a long-term player for the team. Just like we say Rishabh Pant could play for LSG for the next five, six, eight, or even 10 years, I feel this player could also represent KKR for the next five to 10 years,” he added.

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Former Indian pacer Mohit Sharma praised Raghuvanshi for his match-winning knock, stating that the youngster is quickly emerging as one of the standout performers for KKR. Mohit noted that Finn Allen had laid the perfect platform with his explosive 93-run innings, but emphasised that someone still needed to take responsibility and finish the innings strongly.

“He is one of those few uncapped players who have performed exceptionally well in this tournament this year. There are only a handful of uncapped players doing really well, and his name comes in the top category among them. You’ll notice that Finn Allen scored 93 runs and he scored 82, right? Still, we gave him the Player of the Match award. Why? Because once Finn Allen had laid the foundation for a big total, a responsibility comes after that. The responsibility is about how you take that score even further,” said Mohit.

“Many times, that is where you look for a big player and not an uncapped one. It’s not easy to come in at that stage, carry the momentum forward, and continue scoring at the same strike rate while building a massive total. That is a huge responsibility. Yes, I understand that he had a responsible partner alongside him in Cameron Green. But still, for an uncapped player to maintain that momentum, especially when he was almost run-a-ball for the first 15, 16, or 17 deliveries, was impressive,” he added.