World Cup 2023: Centurion Rachin Ravindra's dad wanted him to be a heady mix of Rahul Dravid, Tendulkar

Rachin Ravindra slammed his maiden hundred on the biggest stage of World Cricket - the lung opener of the 2023 Cricket World Cup on Thursday in Ahmedabad. Meenakshi Rao profiles the Kiwi all-rounder.

Ahmedabad (Gujarat): His father wanted him to be a heady mix of Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar and thus named him Rachin. On October 5, 2023, he played to his father’s expectation in this World Cup’s inaugural match when he singlehandedly defeated defending champions England with 123 in 96 balls decked with 11 boundaries and five scintillating sixes and a heady strike rate of 128.1.

It was a perfect revenge exacted by the Kiwis who had lost the 2019 final to England in excruciating circumstances. It was sad that when the New Zealanders mounted their best-ever attack winning the match by 9 wickets, the majestic Narendra Modi Stadium at Motera was nearly empty.

After getting young for a duck, the Poms thought they were on a trot, till the Karnataka-origin Kiwi with curly hair playing on his forehead walked out with determination to win the day for New Zealand. This 23-year-old all-rounder debuted only two years ago and is a veteran of just 13 ODIs. The left-hander batter and spinner was born and brought up in Wellington and made his Test debut against India in Kanpur.

Born to a software engineer, played club-level cricket in his hometown Bengaluru before his parents shifted to New Zealand. His saddest memory has been the heartbreaking defeat of New Zealand to England at Lord’s and he drank his sorrows down at a Bengaluru sports bar.

So today, when he thrashed the English bowlers with élan, after taking the crucial wicket of Harry Brook in his first over, he got the victory going. Three boundaries (15 runs) later, he sent Brook packing much to his mirth. Incidentally, it was Conway who grabbed his catch.

He then built an unprecedented partnership of 273 runs with his partner Conway. Interestingly, Rachin Ravindra who could be a successful model for a Gillette ad perhaps, thanks to his square jawline, is in the team as a replacement for an injured Kane Williamson. He walked in at No. 3 to proudly plug the damage that had come with the early fall of a fellow wicket.