The name ‘Rachin’, often claimed as a portmanteau of the first names of Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar, isn’t all that evokes interest in this New Zealand youngster. Rachin Ravindra’s impressive showing has also been a talking point so far in the ongoing World Cup.
The left-handed batsman-all-rounder tallies 183 runs in three innings, averaging 91.50 at an even better strike rate of 114.37.
No wonder the 23-year-old has cemented his place in the Black Caps top order. But, with regular captain Kane Williamson out of the next three games, Ravindra’s role in the New Zealand batting line-up assumes greater importance, beginning with their game against Afghanistan in Chennai on Wednesday.
A good show against the Afghans would keep him in a good frame of mind as well going into the India game in Dharamsala on October 22.
In Ravindra’s own words too, it’s “pretty cool” to perform in India as he has a sense of family connection here.
Another standout feature of his batting is his bat speed, points out Ravindra’s former coach Glenn Pocknall, who has also opened with him during his early days in List A cricket for Wellington. “Generating more power was a key focus from both conditioning and bat-speed perspective to get that little bit more out of his shots.
“From a very young age, he honed his skills for up to six hours a day and that meant training with his dad (Ravi Krishnamurthy) early in the morning, going to a team training later on and then having another training session late at night,” Pocknall, who has coached Ravindra for five years and is currently head coach of Central Districts, told The Telegraph.
Strong mindset
It was in late November 2021 when Ravindra first rose to prominence with his dogged batting in the Kanpur Test against India.
“He has been very diligent from a young age as to the path he needs to take to get better, and one of those areas is around the mental game,” Pocknall said.
Ravindra, maybe, needs to be a little bit judicious in his choice of shots to climb greater heights.
