New Zealand’s Rachin Ravindra Impresses Rahul Dravid; India Coach Says There Is Less Of ‘Ra’, More Of ‘Chin’

Chennai: Young Rachin Ravindra took the world by storm when he scored a hundred in New Zealand’s nine-wicket hammering of England in the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 opener in Ahmedabad on Wednesday. Born to Bengaluru parents, the 23-year-old was named after former India greats Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar, taking Rahul’s ‘Ra’ and Sachin’s ‘chin’. Surely, Dravid was watching the youngster as the left-hander just demolished the England bowlers en route to a massive victory at the world’s biggest cricket stadium. The former India captain stated Ravindra’s batting has heavy-duty influence of Tendulkar and less of him.

“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,” said the Indian head coach during a press conference.

The former India captain 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.”

Ravindra 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.