The southpaw finished New Zealand’s leading run scorer with the bat, scoring 256 runs at an average of 51.20, including a magnificent 134 in the first innings of the opening Test in Bengaluru.

Rachin Ravindra has a strong Indian connection. Not only was he born to Indian parents, he has also been regularly playing in India for the last few years on off-season tours.

Ravindra’s father Ravi Krishnamurthy, a software system architect from Bengaluru who moved to New Zealand in the 1990s, is the founder of the Hutt Hawks Club in New Zealand, which brings players over to India every summer.

“I was making him get up and he’d come and throw balls for me two hours before school. Mum getting me ready every day for school, training and games – that unconditional love, which I’ll never forget. That’s stuff I’ll never take for granted,” he said.

“I had Dad watch the first test in Bangalore in his hometown, which was nice, and I’m sure Mum was biting her nails in front of the TV not moving an inch back home.”

“It’s very special and to be able to do it in the country of (my parents’) birth is amazing,” Ravindra admitted.

“Although I’ve always maintained I’m 100 percent Kiwi born and brought up, it’s nice to get that reminder every now and again.”