Very early in the campaign, back on 19 April when Kolkata Knight Riders finally chalked up their first win, Ambati Rayudu dropped a line that sounded a touch bold at the time: “Anukul Roy can be KKR’s story of the season.” Three weeks on, away at Delhi Capitals on Friday night, the sentence felt a lot less speculative.
Roy opened the bowling, taking the first and third overs, and leaked only 18 runs. The wickets – Pathum Nissanka and Tristan Stubbs – turned up later, both in the 11th over, leaving him with 2 for 31. Near the death he flung himself at deep mid-wicket and somehow clung on to Axar Patel’s slog-sweep. KKR’s fielders mobbed him; Finn Allen still stole most of the headlines, yet Roy’s fingerprints were all over a 21-run victory.
The simplest explanation is continuity: Roy is one of just seven Knight Riders to appear in every match so far. “It’s good that guys like Anukul are getting opportunities because you could easily get overlooked for the next flashy toy,” Mitchell McClenaghan noted on the TimeOut show. Consistent selection has let the 27-year-old settle into a clear brief – a power-play over or two, a holding spell in the middle, handy runs down the list and a bit of electric work in the deep.
Deep Dasgupta reckons that combination of role clarity and recent form is showing through. “He’s always been a good player, and this season, the domestic season, he has done well. So that confidence, and also the confidence of knowing that he’s going to play more often than not [has helped him],” Dasgupta said. “And also the clarity. He’s the one who bowls in the powerplay, more often than not he will bowl at least an over or two in the powerplay, and then the fact that he can bat and he’s a decently good bat.
“I think all of that – he’s a really good package. Today he took a good catch, but he was a little off the mark [before this game]. But generally, he’s a gun fielder as well. So he’s had a good season, the fact that the confidence shown in him, the clarity, all of those things add up.”
The numbers from last winter back that up. In the Ranji Trophy Roy the bowler led the way for Jharkhand with 29 wickets at 23.51. In the 50-over Vijay Hazare he flipped the script, scoring 245 runs at 49.00 while barely bowling. And in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20s – the tournament Jharkhand actually won – he managed both, crashing 303 runs at a strike rate of 160.31 and bagging 18 wickets at 7.41. That is the sort of three-format haul selectors remember.
After that domestic run he told ESPNcricinfo: “I want to focus on just the positives, and ensure my batting and bowling remain top-notch.” International honours felt distant in October; by May they do not feel completely fanciful.
Opportunities with the bat in IPL 2026 have been sparse – only 33 balls faced – but a late-overs 29 not out from 16 deliveries against Rajasthan Royals nudged KKR across the line earlier in the tournament. With the ball he has eight wickets from 20.1 overs, his economy 8.87 – not miserly, not ruinous, perfectly serviceable on small Indian grounds.
McClenaghan, himself a left-arm seamer with long IPL memories, thinks familiarity is helping Roy develop quietly. “He’s played enough, and he’s been in squads enough,” he pointed out, reminding viewers that Roy first signed for Mumbai Indians in 2018, fresh from India’s Under-19 World Cup win, and shifted to Kolkata four seasons ago. He has seen the inside of strong dressing rooms, even if chances on the field took a while to show up.
One lingering question is whether KKR will trust him with more overs when the crunch comes. At times Shreyas Iyer has turned to spin early, then banked on pace later, which can leave Roy squeezed. On Friday, though, his double-strike broke Delhi’s chase and the faith was rewarded.
Nothing about Roy’s game screams superstar. He does not crank 150 kph, nor does he launch sixes into the upper tier, and, crucially, he seems unbothered by that. A couple more evenings like Delhi and the wider conversation may turn anyway. For the moment, the Knight Riders are just pleased the unflashy option is proving handy.
Rayudu’s April prediction suddenly sounds pretty reasonable.
