The inclusion of Rachin Ravindra in New Zealand’s squad for the World Cup 2023 wasn’t much surprising: the tournament being played in India would make his spin-bowling all-round services useful. However, his immense success in the tournament with the bat has astonished everyone, making all stand and applaud his heroics as a batter.
Rachin Ravindra recorded his third World Cup 2023 century on Saturday, against Pakistan. And he did it in front of a passionate, supportive Bangalore crowd – chants of “Rachin Rachin” were heard at the M. Chinnaswamy stadium: Rachin Ravindra’s father hails from Bangalore before he moved to New Zealand.
He’s already thumped hundreds against England and Australia. At the time of writing, the young Kiwi left-hander is closing in on Quinton de Kock’s spot at the top of the run-scoring charts in the tournament. And he’s doing it all at the young age of only 23, and in what is just his first year in ODI cricket.
“Take a bow,” Ramiz Raja thumpingly said on commentary as Rachin Ravindra pulled a short ball from Mohammad Wasim Jr to get to his century against Pakistan. Among many records he’s broken and created in this supreme runs of form in this tournament, Rachin became the first batsman to register three centuries in his debut World Cup tournament.
At the time of writing, Rachin Ravindra has amassed 505* runs in 8 innings at an average of 84 with 3 hundreds and 2 fifties. Quinton de Kock, with 545 runs in 7 innings, leads the runs chart.
Twitter erupted with congratulatory tweets for young Rachin Ravindra on his century against Pakistan:
Pakistan captain Babar Azam had won the toss and elected to field. He might be rueing his decision. Kane Williamson got out for 95 runs. New Zealand are 252/2 at the 35-over mark and are looking for a total in excess of 350.
Teams:
New Zealand (Playing XI): Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra, Kane Williamson(c), Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham(w), Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Trent Boult
Pakistan (Playing XI): Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam(c), Mohammad Rizwan(w), Iftikhar Ahmed, Saud Shakeel, Agha Salman, Shaheen Afridi, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Haris Rauf
