As the domestic cricket season shifts from Ford Trophy to Super Smash the trio of Rachin Ravindra, Jacob Duffy and Rob O'Donnell sit as three intriguing lads to track. Duffy has been selected in the Indian phase of the upcoming ODI tour as a sign of his status in the wider Blackcaps mixer, while Ravindra has quietly dipped behind a bunch of spinning all-rounders and O'Donnell is simply Auckland's most important geezer.

As captain of Auckland, O'Donnell leads his team for runs in FT and is only joined by George Worker in scoring 100+ runs so far. O'Donnell is second to Worker in Plunket Shield runs and they are the only Auckland batters with 200+ runs in the four-day competition. O'Donnell hit 123 in the last PS game of the first stanza, then he jacked up scores of 72, 51 and 54* in three consecutive FT games.

Rob O'Donnell this summer...

Plunket Shield: 230 runs @ 32.85avg, 1 x 100

Ford Trophy: 199 runs @ 49.75avg/61.99sr, 3 x 50

The real funk for O'Donnell is in his T20 mahi. O'Donnell has a T20 record of 38.42avg/131.21sr and his average is ranked 20th for all T20 batters, which puts O'Donnell behind Devon Conway (third - 44.08avg) for active kiwi batters. In his six seasons of T20 cricket in Aotearoa, O'Donnell has averaged 25+ in five of them, he has a 50+ score in four seasons and he has scored 200+ runs in the last two.

Auckland will be without Martin Guptill in the Super Smash, leaving O'Donnell and Worker as crucial senior batters. Mark Chapman is Auckland's best batter and he's coming off 83 runs @ 13.83avg in six FT games. O'Donnell leads by example, he's in form and he is a low key T20 monster.

Ravindra has centuries in PS and FT this season, while not scoring over 35 in his remaining 12 innings. Ravindra has been a busy bowler this summer with 94 overs as the main Wellington spinner in PS before sharing the spin duties with leggy Peter Younghusband in FT. The latter will likely be Wellington's bowling recipe for Super Smash and Ravindra will have space to flex in a powerful Wellington batting outfit.

Rachin Ravindra this summer...

Plunket Shield: 272 runs @ 34avg, 1 x 100 | 8w @ 37.25avg/3.17rpo

Ford Trophy: 156 runs @ 26avg/89.65sr, 1 x 100 | 4w @ 36.75avg/5.44rpo

The issue is that Ravindra hasn't dominated Super Smash with his willow before, even though it feels like he is in that zone. Ravindra has a T20 record of 14.64avg/121.19 and Ravindra played six T20Is in Bangladesh/India with 54 runs @ 9avg/98.18sr. Ravindra's bowling was fabulous in those spinny conditions (6w @ 13.83avg/4.36rpo).

With a highest score of 40* in the Super Smash, Ravindra's batting will be the main focus. Batting alongside Finn Allen will help Ravindra settle into his mahi and this will highlight Raivindra's role in the batting line up as he doesn't need to go bonkers while Allen is there. Wellington could deploy a young batting unit as Devon Conway, Tom Blundell and Michael Bracewell will be in Test mode. This makes Ravindra a leader in the batting group and this is the perfect time for him to elevate his Super Smash career.

Jacob Duffy is second for PS wickets and fourth for FT wickets. The only other bowler in the top-five for wickets across both competitions is Wellington's Michael Snedden. Not only is Duffy the leading wicket-taker for Otago by a decent margin this season, he is Otago's most economical bowler in both competitions.

When Duffy made his T20I debut late in 2020, he was coming off three impressive seasons of Super Smash. In his last two Super Smash campaigns Duffy has averaged 85.25 and 53 with the ball, conceding more than 9rpo in both.

This is reflected in Otago's results as they finished second on the ladder in 2019/20 with a 5-4 record and Duffy taking 11w @ 27.81avg/8rpo. Otago then finished last in 2020/21 with a 2-8 record, followed by a 1-8 record last summer and finishing last again.

Duffy is a hearty leader for Otago and he is their key bowling weapon. It seems like Duffy will be around until mid-January and this will give him plenty of time to impact games for Otago, as well as showcasing his T20 bowling skills. Any swing or seam will be pounced upon by Duffy and there will only be more Blackcaps seam opportunities next year for Duffy.