Rachin Ravindra, the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) allrounder, has left the IPL to focus on New Zealand's upcoming Test tour of England. He will now work on red-ball cricket in New Zealand before the Test squad leaves for the UK. The first Test between England and New Zealand starts at Lord's on June 4.
Ravindra's exit from the IPL was confirmed by KKR on Friday. He was bought by KKR for a base price of INR 2 crore (approx. US$208,450) at the auction for IPL 2026, but did not get a game all season. He was one of eight overseas players in the KKR roster, missing out on a spot in a playing XII stacked with Indian batters and Cameron Green in the middle order.
Ravindra is a regular in the middle-order in New Zealand's Test XI, and the upcoming series will be his first Test tour of the UK. Across New Zealand's last two Test series, Ravindra has been prolific. He scored an unbeaten 165 against Zimbabwe in August 2025, and followed it up with a knock of 176 in Christchurch and unbeaten scores of 72 and 46 in Mount Maunganui - both against West Indies in December 2025.
The upcoming series in England will be their second assignment in this cycle, with Test matches at Lord's (June 4-8), the Oval (June 17-21) and Nottingham (June 25-29). Before going to England, though, New Zealand will play a four-day Test against Ireland in Belfast starting May 27.
New Zealand are currently second on the 2025-27 World Test Championship (WTC) points table with two wins and a draw. The last time New Zealand toured England for a Test series was in 2022, where they were blanked 0-3 by the hosts.
