“Yes, very, very unusual,” Ravindra said of his celebrations at the end of the third day’s play, after his 134 off 157 balls helped New Zealand take a first-innings lead of 356. “I don’t know, a little bit It doesn’t happen often for me, but I think scoring 100 overseas in India is always nice, but also the context of it when we had lost a few wickets, and we had built a pretty cool partnership And for me that is so special.

“I think it’s more than just a milestone, I think we can do it with teammates and do it with our backs… well no, I wouldn’t say with our backs against the wall because we had a significant lead , but when the game is over, in the end it probably meant a lot and it felt really good to share it with my buddy Timmy (Tim Southee).”

The standout feature of Ravindra’s innings was his approach against India’s formidable spin trio. Ravindra faced 95 spin balls, out of which he scored 101 runs. He took R Ashwin for 30 off 35, Kuldeep Yadav for 30 off 21, and Ravindra Jadeja for 41 off 39. That almost never happens in India.

Rarely does a foreign batsman play the kind of strokes that 24-year-old Ravindra did. He didn’t use the conventional sweep like most other visiting hitters. Instead, he deployed wrist movements, as batters in subcontinents often do, playing the ball late and also using his feet to get to the field of the delivery and send it to centre. When Ravindra took out the cross bat, he flew over the boundary four times.

“I think sometimes on a wicket like this you can pick and choose because it didn’t do too much,” Ravindra said. “(There were) not too many demons in it, but I think it seems that, especially in Test cricket these days, it feels like you always have to drive the team forward and always score runs.

“You see teams all over the world, the way they score, the run rates have gone up, and it just feels natural. So I think for us it was just to continue that and make the most of those options. but I think we know, when you bat in India, once you’ve had 20, 30, 40 balls, it starts to get easier.

“And it’s obviously a pitch where you can score quite quickly, right? Short boundaries, fast outfield here, pretty good wicket to bat on. So luckily the stars aligned today.”

Ravindra’s 134 was his second Test century and his first in Asia. Coincidentally, Bengaluru is where his parents were born and raised. His father Ravi Krishnamurthy, who played cricket at a decent level in the city before emigrating to New Zealand in 1997, watched his son from the stands. Ravindra still has a lot of family in Bengaluru and used to visit them during his holidays.

“Yes, of course it is special,” he said. “A lot of my family will probably watch the game in the stadium and then on TV at home. I know they are very proud and it makes me happy that they can see a relative play in their hometown, which is very cool.

“And mom and dad would be very proud of that. To be able to play in their hometown where they grew up is pretty special. But like I always say, I’m completely Kiwi, 100% Kiwi, but it’s nice to have that Indian heritage base here in Bengaluru.”

Ravindra also showed composure and skill in fielding New Zealand’s lower order. They had fallen from 193 for 3 to 233 for 7 on the third morning, but he took the lead in a 137-run stand with Tim Southee off just 132 balls. He was ultimately the last batter to be dismissed.

“Yes, an extremely valuable experience,” Ravindra said of his pre-tour training. “I think before the six subcontinental tests we had, I thought it might be best for me to go and train there for a few days, in slightly more realistic conditions than what we would have in the conditions used. wickets in New Zealand, which, you know, wouldn’t serve the same purpose.

“And luckily the CSK guys really sorted me out and I was able to train really well for four or five days on, you know, red soil and black soil wickets. So I think that was invaluable and helped me, sort of, strengthening some game plans and working on a few positions I wanted.”