CHENNAI : When Rachin Ravindra received his New Zealand Test cap in Kanpur three years ago, he was a spinning all-rounder. In that Test against India, the then 21-year-old batted in the lower-order, sent down 40 overs and held his own with the bat, alongside Ajaz Patel for the tenth wicket, to eke out a fighting draw.
Cut to present, he is the Black Caps' Test No. 4, a mainstay in the ODI team, an IPL star with the Chennai Super Kings and one of the rising youngsters in the cricketing world. And Rachin is back in India, at the Super Kings Academy in Chennai, preparing for what is a long subcontinental test for him and New Zealand. Over the next month and a half, the Black Caps will play a Test against Afghanistan in Noida (from September 9), two more in Sri Lanka before coming back to India for a three-match Test series in October.
Rachin, along with his compatriot and pacer Ben Sears, is at the Super Kings high performance centre in Chennai. Working with them is Super Kings academy coach Sriram Krishnamurthy, who knows both Rachin and Sears from their early years. Aware of the challenge the next month and a half poses, Rachin is working on the things he needs to adjust and adapt. "It is a completely different challenge," he says on the sidelines of a training session on Tuesday.
"When you look at the way the guys from the subcontinent bat, the way they hold their shape for longer in the lower positions they get into, I think as cricketers from the western side of the world, we're still trying to incorporate that into our spin games. It's about having an open mind to all that and stuff, but it's also still important for us to remember what we do well as a team and players. It's about being able to take bits from the experiences we've had and ultimately back ourselves and trust our plan."
Rachin, while having established himself in the white-ball formats as a batting all-rounder, is already settled in his new role in the Test team. In his seven Test matches, two in India and five in New Zealand, the youngster averages 55.75 from four games. In the next two months, he will be up against various kinds of spinners from Noor Ahmed to R Ashwin to Prabath Jayasuriya. And by the time the six Tests are over, Rachin could establish himself as one of the backbone of the New Zealand team.
But he is not focussing on that. "I think for me, it's important to take ball by ball, Test match after Test match, and see where it takes us. Obviously, as a team we want to compete, and want to win games of cricket, and I want to be able to contribute to that. But at the end of the day, I guess it's doing what I do, and trusting my plan, and learning from each experience. For me, that's important, that's going to help me become a better cricketer going forward."
What the 24-year-old is pleased about is the opportunity to train at the CSK facility alongside Sriram, whom he knows from his early days. "It's that relationship between player and franchise, and it shows how much they value players by the way they treat them, and very lucky to be involved with the Super Kings. Over the last week, while being able to connect with them, and not even, just during the IPL, obviously being able to come here now, and still have, talk to Flem (Stephen Fleming), and talk to Huss (Mike Hussey) from time to time, so that's always a nice relationship to have.
"It's extremely special to have Sri here as well. Someone we've worked with since I was 15, and when he first came to New Zealand, and you have that trust, and you have that connection with each other, and you know whatever he says comes from the right place. I feel like I'm still learning a lot from him, which is cool, and he's one of those guys that, you're not just going to pop up anywhere and have a conversation, he's going to talk to you throughout the year, and he's going to check in with you, which I think is quite cool. He's always known my cricket really well, and he knows it almost as well as I do at this point, so it's cool to again connect with him, and spend time in these brilliant facilities."
While Rachin has been working on his batting, Sears is trying to get the lines and lengths right for the subcontinent. The tearaway pacer broke into the international scene in 2021 and has just played one Test so far. He has toured Bangladesh and Pakistan for white-ball series but this will be his first time in the subcontinent for the longest format. "It is going to be a new experience, came a little bit early, trying a few things out, just getting used to the conditions. Obviously, the ball doesn't swing as long as it does in New Zealand. You have to try and bring the stumps in a lot more and stuff like that. Hopefully, just try and make the minor adjustments, yeah," Sears said.
Before coming to India, Rachin and Sears were a part of two New Zealand camps in Mount Maunganui, Tauranga and another camp in Christchurch and Lincoln. The real test, however, begins next Monday when they take the field against Afghanistan in Noida for the one-off Test.