Rachin Ravindra dislocated his shoulder at a photo shoot, and New Zealand’s biggest home summer starts next month
A diving catch at an Auckland promotional shoot has left New Zealand’s Rachin Ravindra with a dislocated right shoulder, and his place in the T20I series against India in doubt.
Sep 19, 2026
He was not even on a cricket field. Rachin Ravindra dived for a catch onto a safety mat during a Sky promotional shoot in Auckland on 16 September, landed on his right shoulder, and dislocated it.
Specialists examined the joint on 18 September and found no major structural damage. That is the good part. The rest is open ended: New Zealand Cricket has put no date on his return, and says it will be governed by how the first few weeks of rehab go.
A freak accident on a signed-off shoot
NZC performance manager Mike Sandle called it “a freak accident” and was careful to point out that the shoot had been cleared beforehand. “As with all commercial shoots involving our players, the activities were agreed in advance by all parties, with appropriate safety measures in place,” he said. The board is reviewing its protocols anyway, which tells you how badly a governing body wants to avoid losing a frontline player to a camera crew.
Twelve matches, starting on 22 October
The timing is the problem. India arrive next month for the largest inbound tour New Zealand have ever hosted: five T20Is, five ODIs and two Tests, 12 matches between 22 October and 1 December, spread across the country’s main venues. The first T20I is at Hagley Oval in Christchurch on 22 October, 12.30pm IST.
India are also the side that took New Zealand apart the last time the two met in anything that mattered. In the T20 World Cup final at Ahmedabad on 8 March, India made 255 for 5 and bowled New Zealand out for 159, winning by 96 runs and becoming the first team to successfully defend the title.
The bowler New Zealand would miss
Ravindra’s role has quietly changed. He built his reputation with the bat, three hundreds at the 2023 ODI World Cup and an ICC Emerging Cricketer of the Year award to go with them. At the T20 World Cup in March it was the left-arm spin that did the damage. He had 11 wickets by the time New Zealand reached the final, level with Daniel Vettori’s mark for a New Zealand spinner at a single T20 World Cup, and his career-best T20I figures of 4 for 27 in Colombo knocked co-hosts Sri Lanka out of the tournament.
Rob Walter is not about to rush that back for a T20I series. “With a heavy schedule of Test cricket in the next six months, we don’t want to rush Rachin back sooner than we need to,” the head coach said. “He’s in great hands in terms of his rehab.”
Read that alongside the tour schedule and the shape of it is clear enough. The two Tests do not start until 19 November in Wellington and 27 November in Christchurch, well after the white-ball leg is done. New Zealand name their T20I squad in the week beginning 22 September. If Ravindra is not in it, October is the price they have decided to pay for having him in November.