10 November,2023 10:13 PM IST | Bengaluru | mid-day online correspondent
Rachin Ravindra (Pic: AFP)
New Zealand's India-origin all-rounder Rachin Ravindra met his grandmother in Bengaluru following New Zealand's last league stage match of the ICC World Cup 2023 against Sri Lanka on Thursday.
The left-handed batter, who is named after Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, took to his official X (formerly known as Twitter) account and wrote that he was blessed to have such an amazing family, adding that grandparents are angels whose memories and blessings stay with us forever.
"Jai Shree Ram! Blessed to have such an amazing family. Grandparents are angels whose memories and blessings stay with us forever," Ravindra wrote on X.
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He also shared a video on his social media where Ravindra's grandmother performed 'nazar utarna' ('look away' ritual) on him. The video garnered more than 680k views thus far.
Ravindra shone amid New Zealand's scorching start to their ICC World Cup 2023 campaign. Despite having only 12 ODI appearances prior to the competition, Ravindra immediately made headlines by striking a brilliant 123 not-out knock in their nine-wicket opening-day victory over defending champions England in Ahmedabad. Following his hundred against England, the 23-year-old batter played another scintillating knock of 119 runs against Australia.
He continued to simmer with stylish half-centuries against the Netherlands (51) and India (75) before his next century came in the thrilling match against Australia at Dharamsala, where he smashed 116 in 89 balls, bringing New Zealand within touching distance of a mammoth 389 target before falling five runs short. In total, Ravindra amassed 565 runs at an average of 70.62 in the ongoing tournament.
Recently, he revealed that batting great Tendulkar is his idol. "Yeah, I think those two [Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid] are pretty special cricketers. Obviously, I've heard a lot of stories and watched a lot of footage. I guess the influence from my parents and my dad, sort of, and the old-school Indian cricketers was pretty cool. Obviously, I idolised Sachin Tendulkar. I think a lot of people did. I think the way he batted, his technique was beautiful to watch. I guess being lefty, there's guys you look at, I love [Brian] Lara, I love [Kumar] Sangakkara, just the usual gun left-handers, but Tendulkar was definitely the idol," Ravindra, 23, remarked during a post-match press conference.
(With agency inputs)