- Sunday, April 28, 2024
Ravindra’s father, who is a cricket follower and hails from Bengaluru in India, named his son after two Indian cricket icons Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar.
By: Shubham Ghosh
HE had scored only 189 runs before going out to bat in his debut match in the 50-over World Cup and Rachin Ravindra showed to the world that he is here to stay.
The 23-year-old New Zealand left-handed batting-allrounder scripted his team’s perfect revenge of the loss in the controversial final of the 2019 World Cup in England when he belted an unbeaten hundred at No.3 to power the Kiwis to a thumping nine-wicket win over the reigning world champions.
In the opening clash of the 13th edition of the marquee tournament at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad in the western Indian state of Gujarat, Ravindra (123 not out off 96 balls) and his partner Devon Conway (152 not out off 121) toyed with the reigning champions while chasing a target of 283 in 50 overs.
They did it in style with nearly 14 overs to spare and added 273 runs en route to the target. It was also for the first time that Ravindra batted that up in the order and fully made it up for the injured Ken Williamson who missed the game.
But who is Rachin Ravindra?
Ravindra’s parents originate from the southern Indian city of Bengaluru who had migrated to New Zealand. His father Ravi Krishnamurthy is a software architect who had played club-level cricket in India. He had named his son as Rachin — after two Indian cricketing icons Rahul Dravid, the current head coach of the Indian cricket national team, and Sachin Tendulkar, the International Cricket Council’s global ambassador for this World Cup.
In fact, Ravindra was born on November 18, just 10 days after Tendulkar, then India captain, and Dravid had belted a record 331-run partnership in a one-day match against New Zealand in Hyderabad, India.
Rachin has been playing cricket from his childhood days and has been part of New Zealand’s Under-19 World Cup squads. He gradually rose through the ranks, backed by his family and particularly his father. He made his Test debut against India in Kanpur in India in November 2021 and has played three matches so far.
His one-day international debut came at home against Sri Lanka earlier this year and has scored one fifty before his blazing ton in the World Cup. He became just the fifth New Zealand batter to hit a hundred on debut in the marquee tournament after Glenn Turner (1975), Nathan Astle (1996), Scott Styris (2003) and Conway, who is a South African-born.
He had watched the 2019 World Cup final as a fanboy. Would he have known that he would be one of the heroes behind defeating the same England in the next edition.
Ravindra, who has been a part of the cricket-playing minors that his father takes to India every year and those trips have helped him develop as a cricketer. This year, the young cricketer, who plays for Wellington in New Zealand, announced his arrival on the highest stage on the Indian soil and his team would now bank on him as one of the key players while going for the crown that remained elusive in the 2015 and 2019 editions when the Black Caps lost in the final.
Did Ravindra ever think then that he would be part of New Zealand’s 2023 World Cup squad?
“You always think one day you might get a chance. Being a 19-year old at that time, a few years into professional cricket, you have those dreams to be part of a World Cup. It is pretty cool how it has come to fruition,” he was quoted as saying.
