Mumbai, March 28 Mumbai and Kolkata Knight Riders batter Angkrish Raghuvanshi says he judges his performances based on how his team fares, while he continues to work on improving his skills as a top-order batter and wicketkeeper.
In a team that has New Zealand's Tim Seifert and uncapped Indian Tejasvi Dahiya as specialist wicketkeepers, Raghuvanshi's skills behind the wickets could be valuable for Kolkata Knight Riders, who, like other teams, will be challenged to find the right combination in the early stages of the Indian Premier League.
"My Mumbai T20 team needed me to keep wickets, so I thought why not? It's a new challenge, and I really enjoyed it. I've been practicing a lot, and we'll see what happens," Raghuvanshi told
With competition for spots in Indian teams across formats intensifying, and specialist batters like Yashasvi Jaiswal and Tilak Varma also constantly working on their bowling skills, Raghuvanshi is also in for a tough battle. However, he doesn't want to focus on the competition just yet.
"I don't really think about that too much. I just focus on improving my own game as much as I can," he said.
"But yes, it's a very dynamic game, so I'm always working on improving my batting, fielding, and wicket-keeping skills. I'm just trying to improve day by day and learn and get as good as I can," Raghuvanshi added.
While the 21-year-old didn't get many opportunities in red-ball domestic cricket for Mumbai, he featured in both white-ball tournaments, the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy and the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
"I felt I prepared as hard as I could, but I only judge my performances based on whether the team has won or not," Raghuvanshi said.
"We (Mumbai) didn't win any of the white-ball tournaments. But it's okay, there are a lot of learnings from it, and I will work harder and come back as a better player."
"All the seasons that I will play are going to be equally important because I play every match like it's going to be my last. I play every match as important as the next match. I feel I've been playing a lot of cricket this year, so I'm well prepared, and hopefully, I can do the job for the team and help my team win," Raghuvanshi added.
With his mentor and coach Abhishek Nayar taking over as the head coach of KKR, Raghuvanshi is confident that he will learn a lot from the former India player.
"It's going to be a great learning experience for me as well as the entire team. He has a great cricketing mind, and he's a great person," he said.
"We can all... I have already learned a lot from him, and this season will be no different. I will continue to learn from him, and hopefully, we will win a lot of matches and win the tournament together," Raghuvanshi added.
However, there was a concerning moment when Raghuvanshi was stretchered off the field during a Vijay Hazare Trophy match against Uttarakhand in Jaipur last December while attempting a catch.
"It was only scary for the first 10 minutes," he recalled.
"I got a little dizzy, but then our team doctor was with me throughout, and he checked for any symptoms of concussion. If I felt dizzy or nauseous for the next two days, but there were no issues, and I was fine after that and back playing after two days," Raghuvanshi added.