Rachin Ravindra was struck by a ball during a net practice in Wellington when he was eight or nine years old. He needed to be taken to a hospital right away. The next thing one heard was that he was returning to the nets to continue training. Father Ravi Krishnamurthy adds, “After he was cleared of any serious damage, he returned.”
Being devoted to one’s interest at such a young age is difficult for a boy, but Rachin has changed since he was a young child. It’s not easy to train in New Zealand. The temperature is below zero, bringing with it biting cold conditions, especially in Wellington. Nevertheless, he seemed unfazed by the cold and other limitations. Before heading to school, he would practice in the indoor nets. The father would remark, “It was the routine for several years.” “I’ve never seen him not wanting to go to training since a very young age.”
Rachin’s family has always included cricket into their daily routine. They have always been ardent sports fans, and Rachin was no exception with their love of cricket. Rachin was coached by his father, a Level 3 coach in New Zealand, from an early age. Since they both had a similar interest in the game, it fit right in.
As part of the cricket training curriculum for the Wellington-based Hutt Hawks Club, with which he has been connected, Krishnamurthy, otherwise an IT professional, carried out over 25 excursions to India, bringing in players like Tom Blundell, Luke Woodcock, Jimmy Neesham, and Jeet Raval. Naturally, Rachin would accompany them. They received assistance on the tour from New Zealand Cricket’s coaching staff, which included former New Zealand international cricket players Bruce Edgar and Chris Nevin. The guys have traveled to several locations, including Bangalore, Mysore, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Anantapur.
Rachin witnessed Sachin Tendulkar get a double century during one of the tours, and it makes sense that this, like Brendon McCullum’s triple century against India at home in New Zealand, had an effect on his career. “We were in India as part of the yearly Hutt Hawks club trip, and specifically we were in Bangalore. The boys were lodging at KSCA Club House while in India. In an India-Australia Test match, Sachin Tendulkar amassed a double hundred runs. At Bangalore’s Chinnaswamy Stadium, Rachin and other lads saw that firsthand,” the father narrates.
When Rachin was younger, he carried the flag during an India-New Zealand test match at Basin Reserve in Wellington in 2014. In that particular test, McCullum achieved a triple hundred. Rachin has also seen Ricky Ponting, Matthew Hayden, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Brian Lara, and Kumar Sangakkara throughout the years, according to Krishnamurthy. He might not even have missed an international match in Wellington since he was a young boy.
It makes sense why he appeared to be a complete batter throughout the World Cup. For the record, with 565 runs, Rachin is now among the top 3 and has topped the World Cup batting charts for a considerable amount of time. He was dubbed a potential world cricket superstar by Sunil Gavaskar. “To those legends, we are grateful,” a father beams. “They seem to be warming up to Rachin, but we are aware that he still has a long way to go and that these are only baby steps. I hope he does well and shows them to be correct. In the end, cricket triumphs because it gives athletes a stage on which to display their abilities.”
The 23-year-old opened with such grace that even Kane Williams could not stop complimenting him. Regarding the child, the New Zealand captain remarked, “Yeah, quite incredible really.” “I’m sure there will be a lot more of it in the future. He made a great splash when he entered the scene and took on a role that maybe wasn’t entirely appropriate for our surroundings. But as we’ve all seen, it’s been quite special for him to perform as well as he has thus far in this competition while keeping his feet firmly planted. The New Zealand captain stated, “It’s not just the quantity of runs that he’s achieved so far, but how he’s been scoring them and how it’s been geared towards trying to move the team forward.” Rachin now only needs 14 more runs to tie Williamson’s World Cup record of 578 runs, which stands as the highest by a New Zealand batter.
Relocating to New Zealand in 1997, two years prior to Rachin’s birth, Krishnamurthy, a mediocre cricket player, has long been the family’s favorite subject. Rachin naturally took to cricket, although Krishnamurthy was unaware that his son’s namesake, Rahul Dravid, was derived from Sachin Tendulkar. He agreed with his wife’s name suggestion. Krishnamurthy remembers, “It wasn’t my idea or a deliberate creative choice.” He realized it much later.
“My wife offered the name Rachin at the time of his birth, and we didn’t give it much thought. We chose the name because it was brief, sounded good, and was simple to spell. It wasn’t until a few years later that we discovered my wife had combined the names of Rahul and Sachin. The purpose of the name selection was not to turn our child into a cricket player or anything like. I do not believe that Rachin’s interest in cricket was piqued by the name. Although it is only a coincidence, we are pleased with the name.”
He muses over the name some more. “People didn’t realize that till Rachin began playing cricket and grew older. To be honest, because cricket is not as popular in New Zealand as it is in India, nobody really gave a damn or even noticed. It would have undoubtedly generated debate in New Zealand if we had called Rachin after a variety of rugby stars,” he remarks jokingly.
However, Rachin has already met Sachin and David. Particularly with the latter, as Rachin had represented New Zealand A and he was a former India A coach. The meeting with Sachin took place in 2008–09 while India was visiting New Zealand. It was in the nets at Wellington’s Sky Stadium. Of course, Sachin won’t recall, but in the nets, he had assistance from Robin Singh, Pragyan Ojha, and Gary Kirsten. In the adjacent net, we were exercising. With such grace, Sachin Tendulkar even assisted in the nets, demonstrating the proper technique for us to follow.” Krishnamurthy recalls that with great clarity.
Would Rachin experience butterflies in his tummy as he batted against India in the World Cup semifinal in Mumbai? Nope. After Sachin Tendulkar’s retirement, Krishnamurthy no longer felt anxious when facing a batsman. The media has accurately depicted my resemblance to Sachin. My heart was pounding and my palms were sweaty, but I believe I was more anxious before Sachin took the field. More so for Sachin than for Rachin,” he ends.
