Kolkata Knight Riders and former India U19 batter Angkrish Raghuvanshi apologised publicly after making, by his own admission, an 'immature joke' on social media on Friday (July 12).
The 20-year-old shot into the spotlight after scoring a rollicking 54 from just 27 balls in his first IPL innings for KKR against Delhi Capitals in this year's tournament. Soon after that performance, fans online found Raghuvanshi's accounts on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, excitedly discussing his carefree persona on social media.
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However, this new attention may have backfired on Friday, as Raghuvanshi reacted to a short video of Indian badminton player Saina Nehwal talking on a podcast. The 59-second long clip of Nehwal's words had gone viral on social media on Thursday, as hundreds of cricket fans reacted angrily to what they perceived as a slight on the sport. Nehwal had lamented the attention cricket as a sport gets in India compared to the likes of badminton, tennis and basketball which in her view are physically more taxing while cricket is more skill-based.
In a now-deleted post on X, Raghuvanshi quoted the video with the words, "Let's see how she goes when Bumrah bowls 150 k's bumpers at her head".
A KKR player - Angkrish Raghuvanshi posted this after Saina Nehwal spoke about cricket, but quickly deleted the tweet and apologized. pic.twitter.com/1tqpeXnsil
— Vipin Tiwari (@Vipintiwari952) July 12, 2024
Raghuvanshi: It was a really immature joke, I sincerely apologise
Several users had managed to grab a screenshot of the post, despite it being deleted quickly by Raghuvanshi. Later in the day, he issued a more formal statement on X, calling his post an 'immature joke' and that he had realised his mistake.
I’m sorry everyone, I meant my remarks as a joke, looking back I think it was a really immature joke. I realize my mistake and I sincerely apologize.
— Angkrish Raghuvanshi (@angkrish10) July 12, 2024
The Delhi-born batter moved to Mumbai at the age of 11 to train under now-KKR assistant coach Abhishek Nayar. He went on to represent India at the U19 World Cup in 2022, before making his Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy debut in 2023, and IPL debut in 2024. In seven innings for KKR this season he scored 163 runs, at a strike rate of 155.
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