With New Zealand set to face one of the most challenging assignments in Test cricket against India, Rachin Ravindra plans to use the experience they gained in Sri Lanka similar to the conditions in India.
He believes that the experience could help them a lot during the test series against India. The Blackcaps are set to play a three-match test series on the New Zealand tour of India 2024 between October 16 and November 05.
He also spoke about the abandoned-only test against Afghanistan in Noida saying, “Yeah, definitely, obviously not being able to play in Noida [against Afghanistan] was a bit disappointing.”
“It would have been a good little build-up. But I think it’s not often a New Zealand team has had the opportunity to have six subcontinent tests in a row, it’s certainly an amazing opportunity to not just to record wins, it’s more for experience and trying to get better as a player and better as a group,” Rachin Ravindra said in Press conference.
Ravindra spoke about the conditions in the sub-continent and compared the tracks between India and Sri Lanka grounds.
“Because traditionally, you know, it’s always tough to play in this part of the world, but I think it’s great preparation. Obviously, Sri Lanka and India are different places, different surfaces, but similar in terms of the amount of spin you might play.”
“Sri Lanka are a quality side, especially in their own conditions, and they’ve shown that, they’re up there in the World Test Championship ranking, so for us it was a great Test, we took a lot out of it and learnt a lot.”
“So it’s mostly about seeing how we can play our game and how we can bring that here to India,” Rachin Ravindra said.
Rachin Ravindra felt that individual game plans to be trusted and backed to come together as a collective.
“I guess it’s being true to yourself as a player, I think we’ve got some quality players in our set-up. We’ve got Kane [Williamson], we’ve got Tom Latham, you’ve got Dev [Devon Conway], you’ve got Daryl [Mitchell].”
“You’ve got guys who approach the game differently, and I think it’s for us doing what we do well in our own capacity, you know.
“Dev’s very good at reverse sweeping, sweeping, you know, Daryl’s same. That doesn’t necessarily mean, you know, someone else has to do the exact same thing.”
“So it’s for us to find our own method and being comfortable with that and trusting that, I guess. And I think that’s probably going to be important over the next few Tests.”
Ravindra adopted his own methods which helped him during the ODI World Cup 2023 in India. It also helped him during an IPL contract with Chennai Super Kings and the upcoming series will be his first red ball outing at this level.
“Although it is different formats, it gives you confidence that you can perform in this part of the world, although conditions will most likely be different,” he felt.
“It’s more managing the crowd and the expectations of the people because we know how passionate Indian people are about cricket. So it feels like if you’re able to do it a couple of times hopefully you’ll be able to do it in a Test series.”
“And look, I think it’s a different challenge entirely and it’s something I’m really looking forward to and, you know, it’s always special to come back to India and play.”
“As you’ve seen, those two tournaments were amazing, the crowds and the passion and the hype and the buzz around them, so I’m excited to have a full-fledged series here.”
India has a stunning record of being unbeaten at home for 12 years. “I think certainly there’s certain conditions, things, I guess white ball, the wicket’s a bit different.”
“They’re consistent, and they’re good to bat in especially in this part of the world. We see scores of 200-plus in T20s and consistently over 300 in one-day cricket. But I think Test cricket’s a different beast.”
“Obviously, we know how good India are in their own conditions, the quality of their bowlers, the quality of their batters. They’ve grown up in these conditions and it shows how hard it is for a team to come and win here,” added Rachin Ravindra.
“So it’s difficult. They’ve got consistent bowlers who bowl at an area for a long period of time. I mean, you see the two spinners who play consistently – Ashwin and Jaddu [Jadeja], they’re two very accomplished bowlers. And they can bat too, which makes it a little bit hard. They’re a very good team.
“We’ll take our learnings. We’ve been here a lot recently, we’ve played a lot of Test matches in India. The group has grown together quite well and we’ve all had that experience, so hopefully we can put together a strong fight.”
India and New Zealand have a huge gap difference as the former has secured the top position in the 6th position of the WTC points table. The first match of the test series will begin on October 16 at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.
