India shows warmth to Kiwi Rachin
Riding on the embrace from local crowds, New Zealand’s future star is having a memorable World Cup in the country of his roots.
With Sachin in his name and a mop of curly hair like the little fellow of old, the Dharamsala crowd went ‘Rachin, Rachin’ in unison. For that spell of time when Rachin Ravindra was standing tall against the Australians in pursuit of a record run chase on Saturday evening, spectators who had come from all parts of the Kangra valley allowed themselves a dose of nostalgia.
They cheered for a Sachin-like figure with the same fervour, even though he was wearing a Black Caps shirt and batting left-handed. 'Rachin' is a combination of Rahul (Dravid) and Sachin.
So gifted was Tendulkar, he played his second World Cup at Ravindra's age. Somewhere around that time in the 1990s, hiss father left Bengaluru for New Zealand, for a better life and career.
But you can’t take cricket away from an Indian wherever they go. At 21, Ravindra made his international debut; remember the Kanpur Test where he led the last-wicket stand to deny India victory? At 23, in his first World Cup, Rachin is being marked out as a future star for his 406 runs in 6 matches.
Ravindra has received rave reviews, not just for his big runs – two hundreds and two fifties in the tournament. His presence at the crease has provided the kind of calm injured skipper Kane Williamson, whose big boots he is trying to fill, brings. In equal measure, he’s been dominant, living up to the billing of an attacking top-order batter.
Against England, when he got to bat with Devon Conway, his innings of 123* (96b) had the force allied with an elegance in stroke-play. Saturday’s 116 against old rivals Australia (89b) was even better, where he controlled the middle-overs with maturity, although it ended in a narrow loss.
For the third-wicket partnership, Daryl Mitchell took the spinners on, and that’s when Ravindra took on the responsibility of attacking pace, so that the run flow was constant from either end.
"Once he (Mitchell) got out, it was just like I was reacting to the ball and seeing what was in front of me. Lucky enough it was a good wicket to bat on so I could sort of just go out there and play my game,” he said.
His game has the left-hander’s elegance. Economy of footwork and bat swing that would impress Yuvraj Singh, some of his best strokes came against Mitchell Starc’s left-armer’s angle. Front foot planked on the crease, his swinging arc was enough to send the ball sailing to the mid-wicket stands or over the bowler’s head.
If Ravindra took time to get to his first fifty, in 49 balls, his second came off only 28. Showing no discomfort against any form of bowling, he has only been dismissed once to spin in the World Cup. His masterful handling of Adam Zampa and Glenn Maxwell was one of the big reasons New Zealand were able to take the match deep and come within five runs of the Australian score of 388. Holing out in the deep in the 41st over, he will be better for the experience.
“As a kid you always dream of the crowd chanting your name and it was cool to see them do that on multiple occasions even when the Aussies were batting," he said of the Dharamsala crowd. "So, it's always special, you sort of soak in those moments, and hopefully we never really take them for granted."
While proud of his Indian heritage, Ravindra refused to be consumed by emotion. “I've been asked this question a lot, but I'm 100% Kiwi. But I guess it's proud to be able to do it in the country where my parents were born and where they grew up and where a lot of my family is."
