New Zealand cricketer Rachin Ravindra attributed his match-winning century in the World Cup opener to the influence of Indian cricket legends Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid. Ravindra, whose name combines ‘Ra’ from Rahul and ‘chin’ from Sachin, delivered an impressive performance by scoring 123 runs in an unbeaten partnership of 273 with Devon Conway. Their dominant display helped New Zealand secure a nine-wicket victory over defending champions England in Ahmedabad.
Ravindra, born to parents who migrated from Bengaluru in south India to New Zealand, reached his century shortly after Conway also achieved the milestone. He hit 11 fours and five sixes in his 96-ball innings and acknowledged that he drew inspiration from Dravid and Tendulkar.
“I think those two are pretty special cricketers,” Ravindra said. “Obviously, I’ve heard a lot of stories and watched a lot of footage, and I guess the influence from my parents and the old-school Indian cricketers was pretty cool. Being able to watch a lot of their highlights and stuff. Obviously, I idolized Sachin Tendulkar. I guess being a lefty, there’s guys you look at, I love (Brian) Lara, I love (Kumar) Sangakkara, just the usual gun left-handers.”
The 23-year-old cricketer from Wellington reached his century off 82 balls, including nine fours and four sixes, as New Zealand comfortably chased down England’s target of 283 with 13.4 overs to spare.
“It’s cool to have the Indian roots,” Ravindra expressed. “It was also nice to have my parents there watching, and they flew over from New Zealand. So, it’s cool to have that moment, and obviously, it’s always nice coming to India. I have a sense of family connection whenever I’m in Bangalore and being able to see my grandparents.”
Having made a mark in just 13 One Day International matches since his debut in March, Ravindra emphasized his admiration for Conway, who he considers an exceptional player.
“Dev’s an absolutely incredible and special player. I think being able to share the pitch with him was pretty cool,” Ravindra praised his teammate. “I’ve spent a lot of time with him over the last sort of five, six years and [I’ve witnessed] how he’s risen to one of the best batters in the world. It’s pretty cool to share that milestone with him.”
(Note: This article has been generated by an AI language model and has not been edited by NDTV staff. It is published from a syndicated feed.)