Rachin Ravindra reveals secret of his name: A Mixture of Sachin Tendulkar + Rahul Tendulkar
Rachin Ravindra rose to fame in the cricket community after scoring an impressive century for New Zealand against England in their CWC 2023 debut. The Kiwis beat England at their own game in this match, which was played on October 5 in Ahmedabad.
In Ahmedabad, Tom Latham, the team’s captain in place of Kane Williamson, called for England to bat first after winning the toss. England was limited to 282/9 in 50 overs despite Joe Root’s brilliant 77, Jos Buttler’s 43 runs, and Jonny Bairstow’s 33 runs.
Carnage in its purest form then ensued. Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra destroyed the famous England bowling team despite England taking Will Young’s wicket in the second over for a duck.
Conway scored 152* with 19 fours and 3 sixes, while Ravindra smashed 123* with 11 fours and 5 sixes, putting 283* runs for the second wicket. In 36.2 overs, New Zealand beat the score and won by 9 wickets.
The century scores by Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra in the first Cricket World Cup 2023 game marked the first time two World Cup debutants had done so. Conway scored more runs. But Ravindra was chosen as the game’s MVP for his century and one wicket.
Rachin Ravindra’s Cricketing Journey
In the first game against England, Rachin Ravindra—who calls himself a batting all-rounder—was chosen Man of the Match in the CWC 2023 opener. With his left-arm bowling, he also took one wicket.
Anil Kumble, a former cricketer for India, told Cricinfo that seeing Rachin Ravindra bat made him think of a young Yuvraj Singh. In his 13th ODI, Ravindra scored his first century in the CWC 2023 opening match, which he says is a “special knock.”
“The first one (the century) will always be special in Cricket World Cup 2023. Being able to share it with Devon, a sort of close buddy of mine, was very great. But still, as a team, it was a great game, Ravindra added.
Ravindra was born in Wellington, New Zealand, to parents who had moved from Bengaluru. His father chose the names of two of his favourite Indian cricketers for his newborn kid because he and his wife are both avid cricket fans.
Additionally, Ravindra was a member of the New Zealand squads for the 2016 and 2018 Under-19 Cricket World Cups. During the 2018–19 season, he signed his first deal with Wellington.
In October 2018, he made his List A debut for the New Zealand A team against Pakistan A. In the 2019–20 Ford Trophy, he scored Wellington’s first ever List A century. He took part in the Plunket Shield that year and scored his first First-Class century there.
In addition, Ravindra was a member of the New Zealand team that beat India in Southampton to win the 2021 World Test Championship. He was not a part of the starting XI, though. In September 2021, he played for his first team against Bangladesh and was out for a golden duck.
Ravindra has represented New Zealand in 3 Tests, 13 ODIs, and 18 T20Is.
His name has a secret, reveals Rachin Ravindra
Ravindra says on his move up the batting order, “That was an intriguing one when Gary (Stead, the NZ coach) told me (about batting at No. 3). For his hometown team Wellington, Ravindra has prior experience as an opener. We bat very low with Mitchell Santner (a genuine all-rounder) at No. 9, so I guess I wasn’t guessing it as much, he added.
During the post-game press conference, Ravindra said, “I guess it gave that licence to go out and express yourself; we did it in our way, and fortunately enough, it worked on the day.”
Ravindra was born to Indian immigrants Deepa and Ravi Krishnamurthy, who had moved to New Zealand in the early 1990s. The cricket player’s father is both the founder of the Hutt Hawks Club in New Zealand and a software engineer. Currently, they live in Wellington, the nation’s capital.
Rachin Ravindra grins shyly when someone brings up his first name. Oh! He says as he fixes his glasses and runs his fingers over his hair. Nowadays, we don’t really discuss it much at home.
“When Mum and Dad were choosing names back then, they were going with Rahul and Sachin. They named me Rachin after taking Ra from one and Chin from the other. “Two great players and I’m honoured to bear their names,” Ravindra told the ICC.
Later, Ravindra would confirm his South Indian ancestry, saying it was great to have a connection to one’s Indian heritage when travelling to Bangalore (Bengaluru) to visit one’s grandparents. He said, ” I am proud of my roots and ethnicity, however, I am entirely a Kiwi now.”
