Angkrish Raghuvanshi dedicates special Manchester United celebration to Nitish Rana after maiden half-century

Kolkata Knight Riders batter Angkrish Raghuvanshi smashed 54 runs off 27 deliveries against Delhi Capitals, which was also his debut knock in the IPL. Meanwhile, after completing his half-century, the 18-year-old celebrated by pointing a finger at his head.

After the match when he was asked to explain the reason behind his celebration, Raghuvanshi revealed that copied famous Manchester United footballer Marcus Rashford and stated that he dedicated the knock to KKR teammate Nitish Rana.

Explaining further, the Delhi-born batter added that he and Rana are big Man United fans and since the latter is currently sidelined with injury, he dedicated it to him. 

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“As far as the celebration I did while batting, I did that for Nitish (Rana) Bhaiya, he got injured. Him and I are both (Manchester) United fans, so I did that for him," Angkrish was quoted as saying by India Today.

When it comes to the match, KKR dominated with the bat, as they smashed 272 runs in the first innings. Opener Sunil Narine played a phenomenal knock of 85 runs off 39 deliveries while Andre Russell smashed 41 runs off 19 deliveries. Rinku Singh joined the party later on as he made 26 runs off eight deliveries as KKR posted their highest total in IPL history.

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Delhi Capitals had a poor start in the second innings as the hosts were reduced to 33/4 at one stage. Vaibhav Arora and Mitchell Starc picked up two wickets each in the powerplay but Rishabh Pant and Tristan Stubbs took care of the business as they stitched a brilliant 95-run partnership. Both cricketers hit a half-century each but couldn’t help DC come anywhere near the target.

In the end, Delhi were bundled out for 166 runs, helping KKR win the match by 106 runs. With that, the Shreyas Iyer-led side moved to the top of the table, with six points from three matches. They have been undefeated so far in the league stage and will next face defending champions Chennai Super Kings on Monday, April 8.