Rachin Ravindra (born 18 November 1999) is a New Zealand internationalcricketer.[1] He made his international debut for theNew Zealand cricket team in September 2021.
Rachin Ravindra was born inWellington on 18 November 1999 to parents fromBangalore,Karnataka. His father Ravi Krishnamurthy, asoftware architect, played club-level cricket inBengaluru before settling inNew Zealand in 1997.[2][3] Rachin Ravindra's first name was reported to be aportmanteau of the first names ofRahul Dravid andSachin Tendulkar,[4][3][5] but his father, while acknowledging the portmanteau, dismissed it as coincidence.[6] His grandfather Balakrishna Adiga is an educationist and former principal ofVijaya College, Bengaluru.[7][3] Ravindra began his cricket journey after being influenced by Sachin Tendulkar since childhood.[8]
Rachin Ravindra began playing cricket in Wellington at the age of five,[9] and travelled to India every year to playclub cricket for Hutt Hawks Cricket Club, run by his father.[10][11] He grew up playing junior cricket for Hutt District cricket.
Rachin was a part of New Zealand's squads for the2016 and the2018 Under-19 World Cups.[12][13] Following the conclusion of the 2018 edition, theInternational Cricket Council (ICC) named Rachin Ravindra as one of the rising stars of the competition.[14] In June 2018, he was awarded a contract withWellington for the 2018–19 season.[15]
In June 2020, Rachin was offered a contract by Wellington ahead of the 2020–21 domestic cricket season.[21][22] In November, he was named in theNew Zealand A cricket team for practice matches against thetouring West Indies team.[23][24] In the first practice match, he scored a century, with 112 runs.[25]
In November 2021, Rachin was named in New Zealand's Test squad for their seriesagainst India.[31] He made his Test debut on 25 November 2021, for New Zealand againstIndia.[32] In June 2022, he was signed byDurham County Cricket Club to play in theCounty Championship in England.[33] Later that month, on his debut for Durham, he scored a century againstWorcestershire.[34] He went on to convert that into his maiden double century, scoring 217 runs.[35] He made his ODI debut for New Zealand againstSri Lanka, on 25 March 2023.[36]
2023 proved to be a breakthrough season for Rachin, amassing three centuries and 578 runs at the 2023 World Cup, ending the year with 820 ODI runs at 41, with a strike rate of 108.03, and winning the 2023ICC Men's Emerging Cricketer of the Year award.[37]
In February 2024, during the first Test ofSouth Africa's tour of New Zealand, batting at No. 4, Rachin scored 240, his maiden Test century. It is the highest maiden Test century by a New Zealand batter.[38]
Rachin was named in New Zealand's squad for the2023 World Cup. He was not officially in contention to make it into the final squad for the 2023 World Cup, but he found his way into the 15 man squad replacing injuredMichael Bracewell. Rachin was not a first choice option for New Zealand going into the World Cup preparations in full swing, as he was predominantly used by New Zealand team as a spin bowling all-rounder who could bat way down the order. However, a fitness concerns to New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson brought about aparadigm shift approach within the team management which opted to promote Rachin to bat at number three position in New Zealand's opening match againstEngland. Prior to the start of the World Cup, he didn't bat at a position higher than number 6 slot in the limited ODI appearances he featured for the Black Caps.[39]
In theopening match against England, 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.[40] 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.[41] Also, along withDevon Conway, he registered the fourth highest partnership in World Cup history, and helped his team beat the defending champions.[42][43] On 28 October 2023, during a group stage match against Australia, Rachin scored his second century and gave New Zealand a glimmer of hope in a high scoring run chase of 389 at Dharamsala which New Zealand lost by five runs,[44] a match that aggregated 771 runs to become the World Cup match with the highest aggregate involving the combination of both teams' totals.[45][46] He became only the second batter in World Cup history after Sachin Tendulkar to have scored two centuries in World Cups at the age of 23. Soon after another century againstPakistan, he became the first cricketer to score three centuries and two 50s in his debut World Cup.[47] Rachin was also second on the leaderboard for most runs scored in the World Cup next to Quinton de Kock.[48]
On 4 November 2023, during a group stage match against Pakistan, Rachin became the second youngest batter afterSachin Tendulkar in the ODI World Cup history to complete 500 runs.[49] He also broke Tendulkar's record of most World Cup centuries before the age of 24 years when he completed his century against Pakistan.[50][51] He also became the first batter in World Cup history to score three centuries on World Cup debut.[52] He also became the first New Zealand batter to score three World Cup centuries and set the record for most World Cup centuries scored by a player for New Zealand in World Cup history.[53][54][55]
On 9 November 2023, during a group stage match against Sri Lanka, he brokeJonny Bairstow's record for having scored the most number of runs by a player in his debut World Cup with 550 runs.[56][57] He also surpassed Tendulkar's record for having scored the most runs in a single edition of the World Cup before turning 25 with a tally of 550 runs in 9 matches.[58]
On 22 March 2024, Rachin made hisIndian Premier League debut as a player of Chennai Super Kings againstRoyal Challengers Bangalore. He scored the first six for his team in the league. He scored 37 runs in just 15 balls before being caught out byRajat Patidar of the bowling ofKarn Sharma. The following match he scored 46 off 20 (Strike rate 230) Rashid Khan got him out. He scored his first fifty against RCB on May 18. Rachin scored a total of 222 runs in the 10 matches he played for CSK.[60]
In May 2024, he was named in New Zealand's squad for the2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup tournament.[61] Ravindra played three of New Zealand's four games before the team exited the tournament at the group stage following defeats to Afghanistan and the West Indies.[citation needed]
In January 2025, Ravindra was named as part of New Zealand's squad for the2025 ICC Champions Trophy.[62] He did not play New Zealand's first game, a win against Pakistan, due to continuing recovery from a facial injury he sustained in thePakistan-New Zealand tri-series earlier in February.[63] On his Champions Trophy debut against Bangladesh, Ravindra scored 112 runs off of 105 balls, becoming the first player in history to score a century on debut in both the World Cup and Champions Trophy.[64] In the semifinal against South Africa, Ravindra scored another century, his first in an ODI knockout match.[citation needed] Inthe final against India, he scored 37 runs off 29 balls in a losing cause.[65] He was the leading run scorer in the Champions Trophy, amassing 263 runs with an average of 65.75,[66] and was named as the Player of the Tournament on 9 March 2025.[67][68]
