New Zealand Opener Rachin Ravindra Has a Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar Connection | WATCH

Defending champions England on Thursday suffered a crushing 9-run defeat at the hands of New Zealand in the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 opener in Ahmedabad. After a clinical bowling show, starring Matt Henry and Glenn Phillips, the batters came to the fore with an unbeaten 273-run partnership for the second wicket and took the Black Caps home with 13.4 overs to spare.

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One of the major architects of New Zealand’ comprehensive win was Indian-origin Rachin Ravindran who notched up his maiden ODI hundred. In Williamson’s absence, the 23-year-old all-rounder smashed as many as 5 sixes, most by any batter from both teams, and 11 boundaries in his 123-run innings off just 96 balls. The wicket of Harry Brook in the first innings added to the list of achievements in the game and thus, he was an easy choice for the ‘Player of the Match’ award.

Apart from his heroics with the bat, what caught everyone’s attention was Ravindra’s name. While calling the World Cup opener, commentator Ian Smith revealed that his name is a portmanteau of two Indian batting greats Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar.

Meanwhile, Star Sports shared a video on microblogging site X where Ravindra could be heard revealing the mystery behind his name.

Ravindra was born to Indian parents Ravi Krishnamurthy and Deepa Krishnamurthy, who moved to New Zealand in the early 1990s. The cricketer’s father is a software engineer and also the founder of the Hutt Hawks Club in New Zealand. They currently live in New Zealand’s capital Wellington.

Ravindra was also part of New Zealand’s 2016 Under-19 World Cup and the 2018 Under-19 Cricket World Cup squad. He signed his first contract with Wellington during the 2018-19 season.

He made his List A debut for the New Zealand A side against Pakistan A in October 2018. He smashed his first maiden List A century for Wellington in the 2019-20 Ford Trophy. In the same season, he scored his first First-Class century while playing in Plunket Shield.

Ravindra was also part of the New Zealand squad, which won the World Test Championship in 2021 by defeating India in Southampton. However, he did not feature in the playing XI. He made his international debut in September 2021 against Bangladesh in which he was dismissed for a golden duck.

So far, Ravindra has played 3 Tests, 13 ODIs and 18 T20Is for New Zealand.