Cricket World Cup: File image of Indian cricket team coach Rahul Dravid and Rachin Ravindra.© Twitter/AFP
Rachin Ravindra took the opening day of the ODI Cricket World Cup 2023 by storm as the New Zealand youngster slammed his maiden century against defending champions England. The ton guided his team to a sensational win in Ahmedabad on Thursday. The 23-year-old was sent to bat at No.3 in the absence of Kane Williamson and he went on to score an unbeaten 123 off just 93 deliveries. The partnership with Devon Conway meant that England had no chance of a fightback in the game and New Zealand started their Cricket World Cup campaign on a thumping note. While Ravindra’s parents both hail from India, his name actually comes from two Indian cricket team batting legends – Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid.
Rahul Dravid’s sense of humour is often an understated aspect of his persona and it was evident when as he indulged in some light-hearted banter about how New Zealand’s new batting hero Rachin Ravindra’s batting has heavy duty influence of Sachin Tendulkar and less of him. Ravindra, who is of Indian descent, scored a scintillating hundred in the opening Cricket World Cup game against England.
His Bengaluru-born parents named him Rachin, taking Rahul’s ‘Ra’ and Sachin’s ‘chin’.
Did you know about that? “Watching him bat yesterday, he hit five sixes… Maybe it was more ‘chin’ that was there. Not sure, I hit the ball off the square at all. I couldn’t hit the ball off the square at all. Maybe the Sachin in it helped him certainly,” Dravid showed his ability to laugh at himself and also make others laugh in the process.
The India head coach did watch his innings and was mighty impressed.
“Yeah, bits and pieces of it. I thought both of them played really well. Obviously got New Zealand off to a really flying start in the tournament and looked like the wicket really became a good one as the game went on. And yeah, both of them batted really well.” Rachin had come in as a tail-ender in a Test match in Kanpur in 2021 and batted for nearly an hour and half to draw the game on a slow turner.
“Yeah, I think he played a Test match against us in Kanpur and I do remember him because he saved the Test match,” Dravid said with an admiration in his tone.
The Rahul Dravid-guided Indian cricket team will play its first Cricket World Cup 2023 match against Australia on Sunday.
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