oming off a steady diet of white-ball cricket over the past six months, New Zealand allrounder Rachin Ravindra has ramped up his red-ball preparation for the upcoming Tests in India and Sri Lanka. Ravindra, and his good friend Ben Sears, the young tearaway, arrived in Chennai earlier this week for a short camp before they link up with the rest of the New Zealand Test side that will depart from Auckland on September 4 to Greater Noida for the one-off Test against Afghanistan, which begins on September 9. This will be followed by a two-match Test series in Sri Lanka before New Zealand return to India to play three more Tests later this year.
Prior to visiting India, Ravindra was part of red-ball winter camps at home along with a number of other New Zealand and New Zealand A players. “As a group, we have had some good camps together,” Ravindra said during a media interaction at the Chennai Super Kings high-performance centre in Chennai. “Two camps in the Mount [Maunganui], Tauranga and we’ve had a camp in Christchurch and Lincoln.
The wickets have been really good. We’ve been able to get around to each other after being away, especially the Test team being away as a group for a little while. “So, it’s been good to be together and have that bonding and prepare for conditions that we might face over in the subcontinent.
It’s been a great few days here in Chennai, being able to acclimatise ourselves a little bit in terms of the red soil and black soil, stuff [pitche.