Black Caps star Rachin Ravindra plays catchup for England test series after eight weeks at the IPL with no game
Sunday, 24 May 2026
What: Black Caps v Ireland, one-off test. Where: Stormont Cricket Ground, Belfast. When: 10pm Wednesday (day one of four), Sky Sport 2.
When Rachin Ravindra marks his guard at Stormont, Belfast, it will be nearly 12 weeks since his last competitive match.
The Black Caps’ T20 World Cup final defeat to India on March 8 will be just a blur in the rearview mirror as Ravindra and his team-mates don their whites again for New Zealand’s first test against Ireland, starting on Wednesday night (NZT).
But wait - wasn’t Ravindra at the Indian Premier League?
Indeed he was. For more than eight weeks one of New Zealand’s biggest cricket stars batted in the nets, travelled around India and its heaving stadiums and flash hotels, had his name shouted constantly from behind crowd control barriers and posed for endless selfies.
But with only four overseas players permitted in each IPL XI, and allrounders Sunil Narine and Cameron Green ahead of him in the Kolkata Knight Riders’ pecking order, Ravindra never took the field. He was released and spent a few days back home before flying out to England.
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It’s baffling to the casual observer but a reality of the fickle T20 game. Every top cricketer wants to play the IPL and even if you make it through the player auction (Ravindra was sold for his base price of around $NZ350,000) there are no guarantees you’ll take the field.
“It’s about making peace with that and finding out how I can still improve,” Ravindra tells the Star-Times.
“It’s still a great environment to get better, and it’s important to still give to the team. Potentially you can get a little bit down if you’re not playing but there’s always a purpose to being there, especially with a lot of cricket on the horizon.”
Which begs the question: how prepared does New Zealand’s No 4 batsman feel, as he braces for his first test on English soil next month in a much-awaited three-test series?
Better than you might think, thanks to some compatriots and a happy coincidence that delivered Ravindra and Black Caps strength and conditioning coach Chris Donaldson - the former Olympic sprinter - to the KKR franchise which also included Finn Allen and Tim Seifert.
“I was netting a lot and we had a great support staff there. There’s guys who are willing to throw and bowl for hours so you get your volume there. We had (Donaldson) there with us, he is amazing what he does and looked after me every single day.
“And we had (bowling coach) Tim Southee there and he was joining us in the gym which was cool. We had a great crew and it was almost like a two-month training and strength and conditioning block which you don’t really get these days with the amount of cricket we play.”
Ravindra enjoyed seeing familiar faces like Kane Williamson whose cricketing hiatus was considerably longer. Williamson had a non-playing role with Lucknow Super Giants as a strategic advisor, and when he returns to test cricket on this tour his previous competitive match will have been a T20 in Bangladesh on January 23.
“It was quite interesting to see him with a mitt and a hitting bat in his hands,” Ravindra said. “He’s very dedicated to his craft and I love watching him bat from the other end and hopefully there will be a bit of that in the UK summer. I’m sure he’s finding ways to do a bit of training here and there.”
Rewind five years and a wide-eyed 21-year-old Ravindra entered the Black Caps’ Covid bubble in the UK as part of an extended 20-man squad for a remarkable period that saw them crowned World Test Champions with victory over India.
He wasn’t picked for the 2021 test at Lord’s but was still awestruck as his Wellington mate Devon Conway scored an epic 200 on debut against England.
“Having legends in the team like Ross Taylor, Kane Williamson, Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Neil Wagner, BJ Watling… it was incredible being part of that and seeing Dev score a double-hundred and running the drinks…
“Even though it was Covid time (the Lord’s crowd was restricted to around 6500 or 25% of capacity) I still soaked those crowds in. It was an incredible day, everything you dream of as a cricket fan, being in a changing room looking at an honours board with so many of my idols scoring hundreds… Sangakkara, Rahane… it will be an absolute pleasure to hopefully play a test there, something you dream about as a kid.”
Those memories include the famous catering. “Best lunches ever… I just remember the soup being so good, it was amazing.” And a pre-test walk through nearby Regents Park with Conway and Tom Blundell which Ravindra says will get a superstitious re-run this time.
Still, the venue for the first test starting on June 4 has been a torrid one for the Black Caps - just one win from 19 there, in 1999. Even when Conway plundered in 2021 the lower order couldn’t kick on and the match faded out to a draw.
Ravindra’s test career remains light with just 20 matches to his name, and a world-class batting average of 47.68.
He has a test century in India - 134 in Bengaluru on the way to New Zealand’s remarkable 3-0 sweep in 2024 - but is yet to play a test in England or Australia which can be the ultimate examination for a batsman.
Captain Tom Latham averages 27 in tests against England in the UK, and Williamson even less - 25.5, both from 14 innings.
Ravindra has played just once at Lord’s, an ODI in 2023 when he scored 61 off 48 in a heavy Black Caps defeat. His first-class games in England total just one: for Durham against Worcestershire in June 2022 when not required for the New Zealand squad.
It was one to remember. A late callup having arrived in Durham on match eve, Ravindra blazed 217 then added 46 not out in the second innings.
“I was on holiday seeing a few of my Wellington team-mates at the time in Dublin. It just came through asking whether I was keen to play a county game in Durham, and I was keen as.
“I had to leave the country to get a specific visa so I was in Paris the whole day before, came back at night and played the next day and scored some runs. That wicket was beautiful to bat on.”
Amid the inevitable onslaught of T20 cricket, the Black Caps test players face a purist’s dream schedule for the rest of this year: three in England, two at home against India then four in Australia taking in Boxing Day in Melbourne and the New Year test in Sydney.
For Ravindra it’s a chance to cement the ‘world class’ label, with Williamson’s days numbered in test cricket, and stand up to England and Australia in their own backyards which has been a regular struggle for the men in black helmets.
“It’s the best test cricket calendar we’ve ever had for New Zealand. They’re pinch yourself moments and you always want to do well in those series. I’m confident in the boys we’ve got a great team and a great culture.
“We’ve got a fantastic side led by a great man Tom Latham, and a lot of exciting cricketers and the fast bowlers who’ve been injured. It will be great to have Matt Henry back and big Will O’Rourke we’ve all missed seeing his work out there too.
“Not just the XI, the squad depth is incredible to see and shows that New Zealand cricket is strong.”
Black Caps squad
Tom Latham (capt), Tom Blundell, Kristian Clarke (Ireland only), Devon Conway, Zak Foulkes, Dean Foxcroft, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, Will O’Rourke, Glenn Phillips, Michael Rae (Ireland only), Rachin Ravindra, Ben Sears (Ireland only, 16th travelling reserve for England), Nathan Smith, Blair Tickner, Kane Williamson, Will Young (Ireland only).
England schedule
June 4-8: 1st test at Lord’s, London
June 17-21: 2nd test at The Oval, London
June 25-29: 3rd test at Trent Bridge, Nottingham