Ravindra’s story came full circle as his cricket-mad parents watched him hit a World Cup century for New Zealand in their country of birth, India.
Barely two hours into his first Cricket World Cup match, Rachin Ravindra was thrown into the limelight by the New Zealand captain and asked to bowl against the tournament’s defending champions at the world’s biggest cricket stadium
The 23-year-old from Wellington duly obliged and came on to bowl his left-arm spin in the 17th over of England’s innings.
Three balls in, attacking England batter Harry Brook smacked away Ravindra’s third, fourth and fifth deliveries for two fours and a six.
Off the final delivery, Brook attempted another aerial shot but was caught by Ravindra’s hometown teammate Devon Conway.
The youngster had his first wicket in an ICC Cricket World Cup. He failed to take any more wickets and gave away 76 runs in his far-from-economical 10-over spell.
Rahul + Sachin makes Rachin
The all-rounder would have to wait to showcase his skills with the bat and perhaps repay his India-born parents’ faith in naming him after the great Indian batters Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar.
“Back in the day when Mum and Dad were deciding on names, they liked Rahul and Sachin. So they took Ra from one and Chin from the other and named me Rachin,” he revealed in a pre-tournament interview with the World Cup broadcaster.
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