Rachin Ravindra reconnects with Bengaluru

Rachin Ravindra was playing a competitive game at the M Chinnaswamy stadium for the first time, but the venue wasn't unfamiliar to him. He might as well have been in Wellington, the place his software architect father Ravi Krishnamurthy, who played league cricket in Bengaluru, migrated to in the 1990s.

"I have been here many times, but I had never played in Chinnaswamy before," the left-handed all-rounder tells DH.

Rachin is part of the touring New Zealand A squad which played three four-day matches in Karnataka before moving to Chennai on Monday for the one-day leg of the series.

"I have been here a lot of times with various Wellington teams, but obviously not played in the stadium. But it felt like quite a familiar place. It was also nice going down MG Road and Church Street... Places that I have been to a lot of times when I was a lot younger and growing up.

"It was quite cool to connect with that side of my family. It is always a surreal feeling being back in Bangalore. Obviously, I was born in New Zealand as my family moved there long ago, but it's nice to be in a sort of familiar place. Loved every minute of being here, and hopefully I will come back soon."

Rachin, a portmanteau of two of India's finest batsmen -- Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar -- didn't have a great time with the bat while enjoying reasonable success with the ball against a strong India A batting line-up. The experience, however, should go a long way in improving his game in these conditions.

"It's been a pretty tough tour, India A are an amazing side in their own conditions," he points out. "We have seen this for the last five-six years or so, their ‘A’ sides are quite dominant wherever they go. They have always pushed teams in whatever conditions they have played.

"In the conditions we play and coming to India, it was always going to be challenging. But I think the boys have stuck here really well. Definitely, we were presented with unique challenges in the three four-day games. The strips were similar to Test matches, probably it (the ball) tends to stay a bit low in Test matches but it was nice to play on different surfaces."

While his performances in the three games may not paint a bright picture, Rachin had done everything in preparation for the tour - both on and off the field.

"Of course, dad is my biggest coach," he says when asked what kind of inputs he gets from his father on what to expect in India.

Krishnamurthy moved to New Zealand for better career prospects, but his love for cricket remained intact. He founded a cricket club called Hutt Hawks Club and completed a Level 3 coaching certification course from New Zealand Cricket.

"He worked on me as a young kid, I still work with him, I still train with him. We do analyse, we do research, we sort of come together and work out a reasonable plan based on these conditions. Obviously, the coaches around this group are pretty cool to interact with but definitely a lot of input from my dad... similar to the sort I prepared for the Test series last time to now. There is a lot that we discussed, it's just good to have someone in your household that you can bounce ideas off. I think it's a pretty special thing."

Rachin’s father had wanted his daughter to become a cricketer but when she didn’t, he didn’t take particular interest in introducing his son to the sport. But the 22-year-old feels it was just organic for him to gravitate towards cricket.

"Yeah, something of that sort," Rachin offers. "Very lucky to have dad and mum in my life for motivating me and keeping me on the right track. Yeah, I don't think there was any sort of plan the way I was supposed to go or what I was supposed to do... I think it just turned out the way obviously with cricket loving parents, mostly my dad.

"It sort of worked that way and I picked up the game. I have loved it since I started playing to this day. It just happened organically, and I am glad the sport has helped me go to places that I never even dreamt of going to. So, a very cool experience to play cricket at the highest level."

Though the lure of T20 cricket is very pervasive, Rachin has his focus set on the red-ball game. While he intends to represent New Zealand in all three formats eventually, at the moment he has prioritised Test cricket.

"I think most cricketers all over the world will want to play Test cricket for their country, and I love Test cricket," he emphasises. "I think red-ball cricket is the hardest form of cricket, you see so many incredible Test matches and the feeling after a Test win, or even a draw, can be unparalleled.

"I love white-ball cricket as well, obviously I would love to represent my country in all three formats, I would love to play in T20 leagues and stuff but right now, I just want to see where it takes me. Learn as much as possible. Format-wise, I am probably closer to the red-ball than white-ball at this stage, but things change."

Rachin made his Test debut last November against India in Kanpur, where his 91-ball vigil (18 n.o.) helped New Zealand escape with a draw when the match was called off due to bad light with the visitors placed precariously at 165 for nine in their second innings.

Just as many Indian pacers have found it difficult to bowl on pace-friendly pitches, Rachin has discovered the challenges of bowling on spin-aiding surfaces in India for foreign spinners.

"People might say they (the pitches) are spin-friendly but then these wickets are probably a little bit different to what we potentially expected, which was a challenge in itself," he reasons.

"Obviously against very spin-dominant batsmen - Indians love to take on spin and they are very positive against spin - it was a nice experience to know what sort of pace I need to bowl, the length I need to bowl... During the Test series, I didn't get to bowl much obviously because of Ajaz (Patel), but I was lucky enough to bowl a lot of overs on this tour. I really learned more about myself. My action and the areas I can bowl for long periods of time. Obviously back in New Zealand, you get to bowl in the 70th to 80th overs, maybe five overs, before you get the new ball. Pretty cool here to bowl 20-odd overs and assess myself in these conditions."