Wellington allrounder Rachin Ravindra will return to the Firebirds squad for their round seven Plunket Shield match against Northern Districts tomorrow.

The 21-year-old has been unavailable since suffering a shoulder injury against the Canterbury Kings in the Dream11 Super Smash which saw him miss the back end of the Super Smash and Ford Trophy campaigns.

Ravindra’s injury was a potentially season-ending one, but a recent scan has deemed that shoulder will not require surgery and the New Zealand A international was able to make his club comeback for Hutt District over the weekend where he scored 84 in his side’s second innings.

Firebirds head coach Glenn Pocknall welcomed the return of the local allrounder.

“It was really disappointing for Rachin to miss out on the Super Smash final and the end of the Ford Trophy campaign, but we’re happy that he’s able to make his return a lot earlier than we originally feared.

“He offers a huge amount to our side with both bat and ball and he already has a lot of first-class experience for a player of his age so he will be important over the next four days.”

Pocknall has made three changes to the side that drew with Northern Districts at Bay Oval last week.

Seamers Michael Snedden and James Hartshorn come in for the injured Ben Sears and Ollie Newton, while Ravindra replaces Lauchie Johns meaning BLACKCAP Tom Blundell will take the gloves.

Troy Johnson comes into the match in strong form. The Hutt District batsman has had a breakout season in his first season as a contracted Firebird and continued his impressive summer by notching his maiden first-class century at Bay Oval last weekend.

Allrounder Luke Georgeson has also enjoyed a breakthrough fortnight and will make his third first-class appearance for the Firebirds tomorrow.

The 21-year-old has impressed at the top of the order and with the ball where his outswing has troubled some of New Zealand’s best batsmen.

Tomorrow’s match will be the final match of the New Zealand domestic and international summer to be played at the Basin Reserve, before the Firebirds travel to Auckland for their final match of their 2020/21 campaign.

Play gets underway from 10.30am – spectator entry is free.

Wellington Firebirds squad | Plunket Shield | Round Seven
Michael Bracewell (c)
Tom Blundell
Jakob Bhula
Luke Georgeson
Jamie Gibson
James Hartshorn
Troy Johnson
Iain McPeake
Rachin Ravindra
Michael Snedden
Logan Van Beek
Peter Younghusband

Plunket Shield Round Seven
Wellington Firebirds v Northern Districts
27-30 March | 10.30am
Basin Reserve, Wellington

Article added: Friday 26 March 2021