Champions Trophy semis: ICC events bring out the best in Rachin Ravindra

Rachin Ravindra is like a breath of fresh air in a sport fraught with over-exposure and an increasing threat from the franchise leagues. At 25 years, the emerging star was the toast of the New Zealand camp when in the company of the silken Kane Williamson, he set up an enviable world record and helped his team to set up a mouth-watering final in the ICC Champions Trophy against India on Sunday.

His 164-run partnership with Williamson, who scored a 15^th ODI century, was almost symbolic of a master-and-apprentice act. It’s often said that it’s temperament which makes the difference and the youngster of Indian origins have already showed he has it in plenty – having set a record of being the first batter to hit his first five ODI centuries in 13 innings in ICC events.

Not a bad start for someone who cut his teeth in the 50-overs game only in 2023 and proceeded to hit three centuries in the ICC World Cup in India to become the ICC's Emerging Talent of the Year. Two more centuries from the southpaw followed during New Zealand’s campaign in the ongoing Champions Trophy – an explosive innings of 108 against the Proteas in Lahore on Wednesday helping him better the mark of Shikhar Dhawan who had taken two more innings (15) to reach five tons in ICC events. Rachin now has an impressive portfolio of 804 runs from his 13 innings across the last World Cup, Champions Trophy with five hundreds and two fifties.

He also became the first batter from his country to score multiple centuries in the same Champions Trophy. The left-handed opener, a complete allround package as he also bowls handy left-arm spin, joined the likes of Chris Gayle who has the most centuries (3) in a single Champions Trophy (2006), Sourav Ganguly (2000), Saeed Anwar (2000), Harschelle Gibbs (2002), Upul Tharanga (2006), Shane Watson (2009) and Dhawan (2013) in the list of more than one century in a single edition of the marquee tournament.

‘’I guess it was the partnerships (which helped). (Will) Young and Kane (Williamson) helped me get through the ebbs and flows. At times, my timing wasn’t so great, but Kane helped me get through that phase. He’s a classy player. It’s fun to watch him from the other end. At times, the ball held a bit and the bowlers also bowled good line length,’’ said Rachin, who has a special bond with India as his parents migrated from Bengaluru and his grandparents are still residents of the IT city.     

To put Rachin’s feat of taking 28 innings overall to score his first five ODI centuries into perspective, a comparison with other leading Kiwi batters will not be out of place. Opener Devon Conway had taken the least number of innings with 22 with Daryll Mitchell (30), Williamson (56) and Nathan Astle (64) making up the top five.

‘’Forget New Zealand, this is a moment for the cricket world. It has been an absolute exhibition from Ravindra,’’ said the excitable Ian Smith, former Kiwi keeper, as a TV pundit. Fellow commentator Kass Naidoo said Ravindra’s idols Kumar Sangakkara, Ricky Ponting and Virat Kohli would be mighty proud of his achievements so far. ‘’His idols  Sangakkara, Kohli, Ponting must be thinking this guy is something,’’ she said.

Now in his fifth year in international cricket (Rachin made his Test debut in 2021), the Wellington-born cricketer has now earned the confidence of their long serving coach Gary Stead and New Zealand Cricket for bigger roles. The right mix of a mature head on his shoulders and the cricketing skillsets may also make him a prospective captain for the future.

The job for Ravindra, however, is half done as he has to tackle India’s spin web in a high stakes final in the challenging conditions of Dubai in four days’ time!