The Blackcaps start their 2023/25 World Test Championship in Bangladesh where they will be keen to maintain an undefeated record. Aotearoa has played three Tests in Bangladesh with three wins and three draws, although they did suffer a pesky loss against Bangladesh in New Zealand during the last WTC cycle.

That was part of a phase of Blackcaps Test cricket in which they had two losses in the home summer and were then swept aside across three Tests in England. This generated panic for many kiwi cricket fans but the Blackcaps bounced back from the loss to Bangladesh with a win and the loss to South Africa came after the kiwis won the first Test. Both wins were by an innings and 100+ runs, so Blackcaps were doing something right in a period of transition with a few players retiring.

Unfortunately the Blackcaps got caught up in England's self proclaimed mission to save Test cricket, a format that thrives in Aotearoa and doesn't need saving. England toured Aotearoa last summer and they did seal a win in the first Test at Bay Oval where Bangladesh also had their win, although Blackcaps bounced again back in another example of Blackcaps mana. The summer finished with two wins over Sri Lanka, but the most notable series in the past two years was a tour of Pakistan late last year.

Blackcaps had two draws and a drawn series in Pakistan. The key figure being Ish Sodhi who had a knock of 65 in one of his two batting innings along with being the leading wicket-taker; 13w @ 25avg/3.1rpo. Another series to highlight in recent years was the 2021 tour of India where Blackcaps had a draw and a loss, with the second Test being Ajaz Patel's dose of Mumbai magic. The first Test is enticing to reflect on as Rachin Ravindra made his debut and while he didn't take a wicket, Ravindra was instrumental in salvaging a draw as he scored 18* off 91 deliveries down the order. Ravindra finished the innings alongside Patel (2* off 23 deliveries) and in his Test debut, Ravindra helped Aotearoa to a gritty result.

Ravindra mania is taking over the World Cup, but Blackcaps have been brewing the Wellingtonian for a long time. Not only is everything about Ravindra's cricketing journey aligned with a breakout performance at this World Cup having toured India many times before, Ravindra was a surprise inclusion in the 2021 World Test Championship final squad. This is a wee example, along with others such as NZ A defeating Australia A in two four-day series this year and the exceptional talent rising through domestic cricket, of the Blackcaps culture and pipeline working well.

Looking across the tours of India, Pakistan and now the squad to tour Bangladesh, this may be the strongest crop of spinners selected...

• India 2021: Ajaz Patel, Will Somerville, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner

• Pakistan 2022: Ajaz Patel, Ish Sodhi, Michael Bracewell

• Bangladesh 2023: Ajaz Patel, Ish Sodhi, Mitchell Santner, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips

The same wrinkles of Blackcaps quality are evident in their batting mahi over the past year (since December 1st 2022) and their Test batting stats...

• Kane Williamson: 94.5avg (54.8avg career)

• Tom Latham: 52.7avg (41.5avg)

• Tom Blundell: 51.7avg (43.6avg)

• Daryl Mitchell: 46.8avg (57.2avg)

• Devon Conway: 48.5avg (50.1avg)

15 New Zealand batters have Test averages over 40 with a minimum of 10 Tests played. Five of those 15 are in the current team (the five listed above). Mitchell has the second highest average of all these lads (big up Stewie Dempster and his 65.7avg after 10 Tests), Williamson is second and Conway is third. Three of Aotearoa's most efficient batters ever are in this team, along with Blundell and Latham who also sit among the best Test batters Aotearoa has produced.

The Blackcaps seam attack consists of Tim Southee, Matt Henry and Kyle Jamieson. Jamieson's last Test was a few weeks before the pandemic kicked off but he has been with the Blackcaps in the World Cup squad. Patel and Henry Nicholls are the only lads outside the World Cup squad who will tour Bangladesh. The recent antics of Nicholls could lead to his omission from the Test squad though as those antics don't appear to be aligned with how Blackcaps operate under the current leadership.

Since last December, Nicholls has played six Tests and had one score over 50 which was a big donnie 200*. Blackcaps have no depth issues and this is a highly competitive mixer with Ravindra, Phillips and Will Young all hunting an opportunity. Young covers the top order while sitting behind Latham, Conway, Williamson and Mitchell. The issue for Nicholls is that Phillips and Ravindra are both competing for middle order spots, they also offer spin bowling.

Nicholls has been dominating the Plunket Shield as a batter with scores of 124, 61, 120 and 30*. Whatever he was doing with ball in the Canterbury vs Auckland Plunket Shield fixture doesn't help him score runs. Regardless of whether Nicholls stays in the squad or he is charged with ball tampering and the punishment rules him out of this tour, Nicholls may struggle to keep his 1st 11 spot given how other lads have performed recently in similar conditions to Bangladesh.

While performances in Aotearoa have set the tone for their WTC campaigns, the WTC which Blackcaps won featured a Test win in Sri Lanka. The last WTC cycle had no away wins in tours of India, England and Pakistan. Blackcaps will need a win or two, maybe even a Test series win outside of Aotearoa to climb their way up the WTC ladder and this series in Bangladesh presents a fabulous opportunity for exactly that.

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Peace and love.