Dravid, Tendulkar And Indian Connection: Rachin Ravindra Opens Up

New Zealand batsman Rachin Ravindra on Thursday mentioned hitting a match-winning century within the World Cup opener was impressed by watching footage of India cricket icons Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid after whom he’s named. With a primary identify made up of ‘Ra’ for Rahul and ‘chin’ from Sachin, as a result of his father’s love of the sport, Ravindra lived as much as his identify in spectacular model. He smashed 123 in an unbeaten stand of 273 with Devon Conway as New Zealand cruised to a nine-wicket victory in opposition to defending champions England in Ahmedabad.

The 23-year-old Ravindra, whose mother and father moved from the south Indian metropolis of Bengaluru to New Zealand, reached his ton quickly after fellow left-hander Conway bought his hundred in entrance of a sparse crowd on the 132,000-seater stadium.

He clubbed 11 fours and 5 sixes in his 96-ball innings and admitted he was impressed by Dravid and Tendulkar.

“I think those two are pretty special cricketers,” he mentioned.

“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 in a position to watch a variety of their highlights and stuff. Obviously, I idolised Sachin Tendulkar. I suppose being a lefty, there’s guys you take a look at, I really like (Brian) Lara, I really like (Kumar) Sangakkara, simply the same old gun left-handers.”

The Wellington-born Ravindra reached his ton off 82 balls with nine fours and four sixes as New Zealand reached their target of 283 with 13.4 overs to spare on Thursday.

“I feel 100 is all the time particular, however I suppose when it comes to with the ability to carry out in India is fairly cool. It’s cool to have the Indian roots,” Ravindra told reporters.

“It was additionally good to have my mother and father there watching and so they flew over from New Zealand. So, it is cool to have that second and clearly it is all the time good coming to India.

“I have a sense of family connection whenever I’m in Bangalore and being able to see my grandparents.”

Ravindra has made an impression in simply 13 ODI matches since his debut in March this yr.

Promoted to quantity three, Ravindra made it rely along with his good buddy Conway.

“Dev’s an absolutely incredible and special player. I think being able to share the pitch with him was pretty cool,” mentioned Ravindra.

“I’ve spent a lot of time with over the last sort of five, six years and seeing how he’s risen to one of the best batters in the world. It’s pretty cool to share that milestone with him.”

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