{"id":33465,"date":"2023-10-10T07:00:25","date_gmt":"2023-10-10T01:30:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.globalindian.com\/youth\/\/?post_type=story&p=33465"},"modified":"2025-01-28T10:47:34","modified_gmt":"2025-01-28T05:17:34","slug":"passion-legacy-and-cricket-new-zealands-allrounder-rachin-ravindra-is-shining-on-the-international-stage","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/old.globalindian.com\/youth\/story\/cover-story\/passion-legacy-and-cricket-new-zealands-allrounder-rachin-ravindra-is-shining-on-the-international-stage\/","title":{"rendered":"Passion, legacy, and cricket: New Zealand’s allrounder, Rachin Ravindra, is shining on the international stage"},"content":{"rendered":"

(October 10, 2023)<\/strong> As the teams across the globe are battling out for the Cricket World Cup in 2023, the New Zealand cricket team has come to the field with the country’s most promising allrounder – Rachin Ravindra. One of the fast-rising cricketers in the New Zealand set-up, the batsman and left-arm spinner, the cricketer recently turned heads with a courageous century to help New Zealand beat England in the opening match of ODI World Cup 2023, making him the youngest centurion in World Cup history for the country. His pivotal performance with the ball, including the dismissal of Harry Brook, significantly contributed to New Zealand’s effective containment of England.<\/p>\n

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At 16, Rachin – who was named after two cricketing legends (‘Ra’ from Rahul and ‘chin’ from Sachin) – was the youngest New Zealander to feature in the 2016 World Cup in Bangladesh, where he impressed everyone with his extraordinary talent. “Since I was a kid, I have been a batsman,” the Global Indian<\/em><\/a> said in an interview, “However, with time my bowling has improved and I am now an all-rounder for my team. All my efforts during this World Cup will be to ensure that New Zealand takes the cup home.”<\/p>\n

Living his father’s dream<\/strong><\/h5>\n

About three decades back, Rachin’s father, Ravi Krishnamurthy played club-level cricket in his hometown Bangalore, with the likes of Javagal Srinath and J Arunkumar. And after shifting to Wellington in New Zealand, Krishnamurthy passed on his passion for cricket to his son. Speaking about Rachin in a recent interview, he said, “I tried to get my daughter into cricket and she didn’t. With Rachin, I didn’t try, and he did.”<\/p>\n

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Interestingly, Javagal Srinath, whom Rachin affectionately refers to as ‘Sri uncle’, has had a deep impact on the allrounder. “He is a good friend of my father and would visit us every time he was in New Zealand on match referee duty. We also got to meet him whenever we were in Bengaluru. He’s my gym buddy, but I can’t lift the kind of weights he does,” shared the cricketer, adding, “He is always happy to chat cricket with me whenever he’s here. He’s been very kind to spend time with me and talk about experiences that shaped him in his cricket career. How India’s outlook is towards cricket, cricketers, and stuff like that. I’ve been fortunate to have been able to spend time with some former cricketers.”<\/p>\n

Krishnamurthy, who is also Rachin’s coach, noticed that the allrounder loved cricket from a very young age. Even when he was just five years old, he would play with his cricket bat and practice hitting plastic balls in their backyard. As he grew up, he continued to play cricket in school and district matches, and he became known for his graceful and difficult-to-dismiss batting skills.<\/p>\n

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