By Rakesh Pandey
Rachin Ravindra – It’s something special about this dynamo from New Zealand that prompts me to write about him. I have seen him since the time he joined the international cricket and the way his game has evolved over the years, he will definitely become a legend by the time he retires. Rachin’s name is a blend of Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar, and he has already incorporated the temperament, technique and class of “Ra” (from Rahul) and “chin” (from Sachin). He is a dynamic batter, who can slot in at the top as well as in the middle order, and bowl left-arm fingerspin.
Born to Indian parents in Wellington, he was identified as a special talent in the domestic circuit and got ample opportunities with the U-19 and New Zealand A side, before making it into international circuit. With a healthy strike rate of around 100 in the shorter formats, Rachin usually plays at the top of the order and is known for his attacking channels with the ball.
After featuring in two Under-19 World Cups for New Zealand and showing consistency in the domestic circuit, he earned an international debut for New Zealand (against Bangladesh in a T20I in September 2021), and it didn’t take long for the Southpaw to make his Test debut as well (against India in November 2021). In his Test debut against a spin-heavy India attack that included R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel, he played out 91 balls in the final innings to help New Zealand salvage a draw in Kanpur.
Ravindra then became a cricketing giant across the globe two years later at the 2023 ODI World Cup. With 578 runs including three centuries and two half century in 10 innings at an average of 64.22 and strike rate of 106.44 he was New Zealand’s highest run-getter and fourth highest overall at the prestigious tournament.
Before the start of the tournament, he was not officially in contention to make it into the final squad for the 2023 World Cup, but found his way into the 15 man squad replacing injured Michael Bracewell. He was not a first choice option for New Zealand going into the World Cup preparations in full swing, as he was predominantly used only as a spin bowling all-rounder who could bat way down the order. But, a fitness concerns to skipper Kane Williamson brought Rachin to bat at number three position in New Zealand’s opening match against England. Prior to the start of the World Cup, he never batted at a position higher than number 6 slot in the limited ODI appearances he featured for the Black Caps. But, in that match, batting at no. 3 in place of Williamson, he became only the fourth Kiwi player to hit a century on World Cup debut by scoring 123* runs off just 96 balls. It was also coincidentally his maiden ODI century. This was also the fastest century by a New Zealand player in World Cup, reaching 100 in 82 balls. He also became the youngest New Zealand player to score a World Cup century at the age of 23 years and 321 days. In another group stage match against Australia, he scored his second century and became only the second batter in World Cup history after Sachin Tendulkar to score two centuries in World Cups at the age of 23. Soon after another century against Pakistan, he became the first cricketer to score three centuries and two 50s in his debut World Cup.
After his bumper success at the 2023 ODI World Cup, Ravindra was picked by Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the IPL for INR 1.8 crore. He made an immediate impact at CSK, hitting 37 off 15 balls in his IPL debut against Royal Challengers Bengaluru at Chepauk and followed it up with a 20-ball 46 against Gujarat Titans in the next game. His form fell away after that and he finished the 2024 season with 222 runs at an average of 22.20 and strike rate of 160.87.
Ravindra is only 26 and has already been earmarked as New Zealand’s next batting leader after Kane Williamson in Test cricket and ODIs. But his performances in the shortest format in the IPL and in the ongoing T-20 World Cup speaks of his class at the shortest format as well. Along with Daryl Mitchell, he is the only all-format batter in New Zealand’s T20 World Cup squad. I personally, rate him as the best all-rounder in World Cricket, across all three formats, at present.
Rakesh Pandey has been a senior sports journalist and former Editor of Cricket Today
