Bengaluru, October 14
Ahead of the three-match Test series against India away from home, New Zealand all-rounder expressed excitement at playing his first full-fledged long format series in India and hoped that his success in white-ball cricket in the country during the ICC Cricket World Cup and the Indian Premier League (IPL) will help him do well.
India will be hoping to continue their home domination as they take on New Zealand for a three-match Test series from October 16, starting with the first Test in Bengaluru. India has been extremely dominant in Test conditions, having not lost a Test series at home since their 1-2 loss to England in 2012-13 season. Since then, India has won 18 successive Test series at home and are undefeated in a series since over 4,000 days.
On the other hand, New Zealand suffered a 2-0 series whitewash at the hands of Sri Lanka away from home recently. The Tim Southee-led side was blanked in the opening Test that went right down the wire with a 63-run defeat and lost the second Test by an innings and 154 runs.
Speaking ahead of the first Test in Bengaluru, Rachin, who did well during the 50-over World Cup last year in India, scoring 578 runs in 10 matches with three centuries and two fifties to end up side's best batter in their semifinal run, expressed hope that he would be able to do well in India and manage the crowd and their expectations well. He also has some T20 experience in India, scoring 222 runs in 10 matches with a fifty for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the IPL 2024.
"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. It is 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 are able to do it a couple of times hopefully you will be able to do it in a Test series. And look, I think it is a different challenge entirely and it is something I am really looking forward to and, you know, it is always special to come back to India and play. As you have seen, those two tournaments (World Cup and the IPL) were amazing, the crowds and the passion and the hype and the buzz around them, so I am excited to have a full-fledged series here," said Rachin.
The ICC Emerging Player of the Year for 2023, Rachin had a strong Test run this year, with his overall stats being 599 runs in six matches at an average of 49.91, with a double century and three fifties to his name in 12 innings.
Rachin said while it has been dissapointing that Kiwis did not get to play Afghanistan in their one-off Test at Noida this year in September in Indian conditions, he acknowledged that it is very rare to be given an opportunity to play six subcontinent Test matches in a row, including three on this India tour, two in Sri Lanka and one-off Test against Afghanistan.
"It is certainly an amazing opportunity to not just to record wins, it is more for experience and trying to get better as a player and better as a group," he said.
"Because traditionally, you know, it is always tough to play in this part of the world, but I think it is 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 have shown that, they are 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 is mostly about seeing how we can play our game and how we can bring that here to India," he added.
The young all-rounder also acknowledged the challenge of defeating India at their home, where they are unbeaten in Tests from 12 years now and expressed hope that the Kiwis will put up a strong fight.
"I think certainly there's certain conditions, things, I guess white ball, the wicket is a bit different. They are consistent, and they are 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," he said.
"Obviously, we know how good India are in their own conditions, the quality of their bowlers, the quality of their batters. They have grown up in these conditions and it shows how hard it is for a team to come and win here. So it is difficult. They have got consistent bowlers who bowl at an area for a long period of time. I mean, you see the two spinners who play consistently - (Ravichandran) Ashwin and (Ravindra) Jaddu [Jadeja], they are two very accomplished bowlers. And they can bat too, which makes it a little bit hard. They are a very good team."
"We will take our learnings. We have been here a lot recently, we have played a lot of Test matches in India. The group has grown together quite well and we have all had that experience, so hopefully we can put together a strong fight," he concluded.
India named a 15-player squad on Friday for the upcoming three Tests against New Zealand, beginning on October 16 in Bengaluru. For the Bangladesh Tests, with Rohit Sharma leading the side, India left the position of vice-captain vacant. But this time, star pacer Jasprit Bumrah has been officially appointed as Rohit's deputy for the three Tests.
Following the conclusion of the series, pacer Tim Southee decided to step down from the captaincy, and Tom Latham will lead New Zealand during the three Tests against India.
India's squad for the three Tests against New Zealand: Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep.
Travelling reserves: Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mayank Yadav and Prasidh Krishna.
New Zealand squad: Tom Latham (C), Tom Blundell (WK), Michael Bracewell (1st Test only), Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Matt Henry, Daryl Mitchell, Will O'Rourke, Ajaz Patel, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Ben Sears, Ish Sodhi (2nd and 3rd Test only), Tim Southee, Kane Williamson, Will Young.