File image of Virat Kohli© PTI
Kolkata Knight Riders suffered a heavy 65-run defeat against Sunrisers Hyderabad in their IPL 2026 clash on Thursday at Eden Gardens. After opting to bowl first, KKR’s bowlers endured a tough outing as SRH piled up a massive 226/8 in their 20 overs. Heinrich Klaasen top-scored with 52, while openers Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head chipped in with impressive knocks of 48 and 46 respectively. In reply, Angkrish Raghuvanshi fought valiantly for KKR with a brisk 52 off 29 balls, but SRH eventually bowled the hosts out for 161.
Raghuvanshi’s innings featured six boundaries and two sixes before he was run out by Eshan Malinga. Despite KKR ending up on the losing side, former India opener Virender Sehwag lauded the young batter for his attacking knock but felt he had the potential to take the chase much deeper.
Sehwag advised Raghuvanshi to draw inspiration from Royal Challengers Bengaluru stalwart Virat Kohli, particularly in terms of approach during run chases.
“He played really well, but these are opportunities that must be made the most of. If he had batted till the 18th or 20th over, he could have taken KKR closer. Now net run rate will come into play. When you lose by such a big margin-65 runs-it takes a hit,” Sehwag said while speaking on Cricbuzz.
“I always say that if you want to learn something from Virat Kohli, learn how he approaches run chases-how he tries to stay till the end and win games for his team. If Raghuvanshi had done that, he would have truly become a star,” he added.
Sehwag further remarked that KKR’s batters fumbled badly against SRH, whose bowling attack, according to him, is not among the top-class units in the tournament.
“KKR made a lot of mistakes today, such mistakes that should not be happening. KKR should have chased down 226 because the wicket did not offer any significant support for the bowlers. Also, it was not as if they faced some strong bowling. Most of the shot selection was poor, there were run outs. I don’t think any batter got out to a good ball,” Sehwag said.