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Vikram Rathour and Rangana Herath have joined the New Zealand Test team, which will play six Tests in Asia over the course of the next two months. Rathour will only be with the team for the one-off Afghanistan Test in Greater Noida, India, beginning on September 9. Herath will be the spin-bowling coach for New Zealand’s next three Test matches, one against Afghanistan and two in Sri Lanka.
“Both men are held in high regard in the world of cricket and I know our players are really looking forward to the opportunity to learn from them,” New Zealand coach Gary Stead said.
“For our three left-arm orthodox spinners in particular, Ajaz [Patel], Mitch [Santner] and Rachin [Ravindra], having the chance to work with Rangana across three Tests on the subcontinent will be hugely beneficial.
“Rangana has taken over 100 Test wickets in Galle which is the venue of our two Tests against Sri Lanka and so his knowledge of that venue will be priceless.”
The New Zealand team will travel to India for three Test matches in Bengaluru, Pune, and Mumbai in the second half of this month following their tour of Sri Lanka. Only the test against Afghanistan is not eligible for the World Test Championship (WTC) out of these six.
For the Test matches against Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, New Zealand will have offbreak spin options in Michael Bracewell and Glenn Phillips in addition to Ajaz, Santner, and Ravindra. The India Tests squad has not yet been revealed.
Herath, who has 433 Test wickets in 93 matches, takes over for former Pakistani off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq, who has been chosen one of the PCB’s five mentors to improve their domestic cricket team. Up until recently, Herath coached spin bowling for the Bangladesh team.
Rathour, an Indian Test player for six years, was the team’s batting coach until recently. In addition to serving as a national selector in 2012, his contract expired in June when India won the T20 World Cup in Barbados.