Rachin Ravindra, an all-rounder from New Zealand, and Ben Sears, a seam bowler, were observed working out in the nets at the Super Kings academy. Chennai Super Kings (CSK), a five-time Indian Premier League (IPL) team with locations throughout Tamil Nadu and beyond, launched the cricket academy.
For their one-off Test match against Afghanistan, which begins on Monday, September 9, both of them have been included in the New Zealand side. The first-ever red-ball match between the two sides will take place at the Greater Noida Sports Complex Ground, which was Afghanistan’s adopted home ground.
Rachin Ravindra, who played for CSK in the 2024 Indian Premier League, had the chance to train in the academy alongside fellow countryman Sears.
With two Test matches against Sri Lanka and three against India after the one-off match against the Blue Tigers, the Blackcaps are about to embark on a lengthy mission in the subcontinent.
New Zealand stars Rachin Ravindra and Ben Sears train at #SuperKingsAcademy ahead of their Tests in the subcontinent against Afghanistan and Sri Lanka!🤩💛#TrainLikeASuperKing💪 pic.twitter.com/P8JsOiALSh
— Super Kings Academy (@SuperKingsAcad) September 2, 2024
It was during the Indian ODI World Cup last year when Ravindra reached adulthood. With an average of 64.22 and 578 runs from 10 innings, he concluded the competition as the fourth-highest run scorer. At the IPL 2024 auction, CSK bid INR 1.80 crore to acquire the 24-year-old player. With 83 runs from his first two innings off just 35 balls, he completely stole the show in the event. After a slump in form over the middle of the season, the southpaw finished with 222 runs from 10 games. Nevertheless, he continued to have a great strike rate of 160.87. It would be interesting to observe how he performs when New Zealand visits the subcontinent.
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Afghanistan has named a preliminary roster of twenty players for the one-off Test match against New Zealand. After a week-long training session in Greater Noida, the final 15 players will be chosen. Due to a back injury, the charismatic Rashid Khan will not be playing for the team; instead, Hashmatullah Shahidi will be leading them.
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