IPL 2026: KKR’s 21-year-old star on learning from Abhishek Nayar and improving wicket-keeping skills

Kolkata Knight Riders’ young batter Angkrish Raghuvanshi says he doesn’t measure his success by individual scores but by how well his team performs. The 21-year-old is also working hard to improve his skills as a top-order batsman and wicketkeeper.

With Tim Seifert and Tejasvi Dahiya as specialist keepers in the squad, Raghuvanshi’s ability behind the stumps could prove useful for KKR as they look to find the right balance in the early stages of IPL 2026.

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Why he started wicket-keeping

Raghuvanshi explained how he took up wicket-keeping.

“My Mumbai T20 team needed me to keep and so I said why not? It’s a new challenge and I enjoyed it a lot and I’ve been practicing it quite a bit and we’ll see what happens with it,” he told PTI.

Focus on self-improvement

With stiff competition for spots in the Indian team across all formats, Raghuvanshi prefers to focus on his own game rather than worrying about others.

“I don’t really think about that too much. I just think about improving my own game as much as I can.”

“But yeah, it’s a very dynamic game and so I’m always working on, along with my batting, my fielding skills and my wicket-keeping skills also. I’m just trying to improve day by day and learn and get as better as I can.”

Judging success by team results

Even though he didn’t get many chances in red-ball cricket for Mumbai, Raghuvanshi played in both the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy. He made it clear how he evaluates his performances.

“I felt I prepared as hard as I could, but I only judge my performances based on whether the team has won or not.“

“We (Mumbai) didn’t win any of the white-ball tournaments. But it’s okay, (there are) lots of learnings from it and I will work harder and come back a better player.“

“All the seasons that I will play are going to be equally big because I play every match like it’s going to be my last. I play every match as important as the next match. I feel I’ve been playing a lot of cricket this year, so I’m well prepared and hopefully I can do the job for the team and help my team win,” he added.

Learning from coach Abhishek Nayar: Raghuvanshi

Raghuvanshi is excited to work under his mentor Abhishek Nayar, who has taken over as head coach of KKR.

“It’s going to be a great learning experience for me as well as the entire team. He has a great cricketing mind and (he is) a great person.”

“We can all… I have already learned a lot from him and this season will be nothing different. I’ll continue to learn a lot from him and hopefully we win a lot of matches and we win the tournament together.”

Scary injury moment last year

Raghuvanshi also recalled a worrying incident during the Vijay Hazare Trophy last December when he was stretchered off the field while attempting a catch against Uttarakhand in Jaipur.

“It was only scary for the first 10 minutes. I got a little dizzy, but then after that our team doctor was with me throughout and he checked for any symptoms of concussion. If I felt dizzy or if I felt nauseous for the next two days, but there was nothing and I was fine after that and back playing after two days.”