Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) young recruit Angkrish Raghuvanshi has apologised for his insensitive comments on Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal. The shuttler had expressed her disappointment over cricket getting more limelight than any other sport in country. She said sports like badminton, basketball, tennis and others are more physically demanding.
"Sometimes, I feel bad that cricket gets all the attention. The thing about cricket is... if you see badminton, basketball, tennis, and other sports are so tough physically. You don't even have time to pick up the shuttle and serve, you are like... you are breathing so hard. A game like cricket gets so much of attention where I personally believe skill is more important,” she said in a podcast with Nikhil Simha.
Raghuvanshi on his X account took a dig at Nehwal saying he wishes to see how she faces Jasprit Bumrah's bouncers.
“Let's see how she goes when Bumrah bowls 150k's bumpers at her head,” he wrote.
Raghuvanshi’s apology
On July 12, the Under-19 World Cup 2022 winner clarified that he meant it as a joke and offered his apology.
"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,” he wrote.
Raghuvanshi’s debut IPL season
Raghuvanshi was roped in for his base price of Rs 20 lakh. He did not get to bat on his IPL debut against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). He scored his maiden IPL half-century against Delhi Capitals (DC). He scored 163 runs from 10 games at an average of 23.29 and strike rate of 155.24. He did not play in the final against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).
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He became the part of KKR squad that ended their IPL trophy drought. The Shreyas Iyer-led side under the mentorship of Gautam Gambhir outclassed Pat Cummins’ SRH to claim their third IPL title.
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