the Rise and Rise of Rachin Ravindra
Last June, the Wellingtonian did not have a national contract. A year on, he’s a must-select in all formats, with better numbers than two of our best.
Rachin Ravindra’s majestic strokemaking was harnessed from cheap DVDS and classic ingenuity from his cricket-adoring father. The Black Caps’ batting allrounder has had a 12 months to savour, tearing apart bowling attacks and announcing himself as one of the brightest young international talents.
After missing out on a New Zealand Cricket central contract last June, Ravindra responded in the best way possible, with a truckload of runs.
His eye-catching batting at last year’s World Cup and over the home summer saw him recognised as the youngest recipient of the Sir Richard Hadlee Medal, the supreme award in the men;s game.
Chuck in a first Indian Premier League deal with the Chennai Super Kings (Ravindra was purchased for $350,000 in the December auction) and it has been a whirlwind ride for the 24-year-old as he eyes next month’s T20 World Cup in the Caribbean.
Ravindra is just getting started. Through his first seven tests and 25 ODIS, the lefthander has better numbers (runs scored and average) than New Zealand’s finest two batters, Kane Williamson and Martin Crowe, had achieved across both formats at the same stage.
He has posted 519 runs at 39.92 in his seven tests, propped up by a career-best 240 against South Africa in February. In ODIS, Ravindra has scored 820 runs at 41, including three tons, all scored at the World Cup.
Crowe had a tough introduction to test cricket, scoring 183 runs at 15.25 in his first seven tests, but fared well in ODIS, notching 776 at 38.80 in his opening 25 ODIS. Williamson’s early numbers were slightly down on Ravindra’s (435 runs at 33.46 in tests and 657 at 34.57 in ODIS).
Ravindra’s cricket journey was forged on countless hours mimicking the best batters in the world as a young pup.
His father, Ravi Krishnamurthy, a software engineer, moved to Wellington from India in 1997 with wife Deepa. Rachin was born two years later.
Krishnamurthy would painstakingly create DVDS of every shot in the book, exemplified by the best batters to play those strokes.
They would hit the indoor nets and practise cover drives, pull shots, leg glances, sweeps, cuts and hooks. The trusty laptop sat behind the indoor netting as Ravindra compared his technique with those of his idols.
Krishnamurthy estimates he had 200 batting DVDS lying around their Lower Hutt home at one point. Ravindra was a cricket nut from when he could walk, with Krishnamurthy recalling him rummaging through his gear bag for gloves, pads and his protective box every Saturday.
“We’d compile a particular stroke like a cover drive and have a cover drive from [Kumar] Sangakkara, [Brian] Lara, every possible guy in the world renowned for that particular shot would go on that DVD. I’d label that ‘cover drive’ and put it away.”
Father and son started the process when Ravindra was 4 with his first proper bat, a Kookaburra Beast (size one), and continued it till the age of 16. By then he was scoring runs for fun in the Hutt International Boys’ School First XI.
“That was a favourite past-time. We had a bowling machine there. It was a bit stupid, it was still fun,” Krishnamurthy laughs.
“We’d play that on a laptop next to him behind the nets and we’d watch that and play that, so basically copy from the genius. I think every shot he has must have been copied from somebody great.”
New Zealand Cricket can consider itself fortunate that Krishnamurthy stayed in Wellington. An “IT guy”, he travelled frequently around the globe for his job. He was only meant to stay in Wellington for six months when he took up a contract with Telecom. Krishnamurthy had almost decided to take the family to Japan, but opted for New Zealand. At the end of his six- month deal in the capital, he was set to head to England. Plane tickets were booked and the family were set to depart.
The opportunity fell over at the last moment, with Krishnamurthy making familyfriendly Wellington their home. “Telecom said ‘No, stay back, it’s a great place to bring up kids’. Somehow I got convinced and never left the country.”
Mark Borthwick, Ravindra’s First XI coach at Hutt International Boys’ School, teared up watching him batting alongside Williamson at last year’s World Cup. Ravindra was the breakout star of the tournament, blasting an unbeaten 123 in the win over England in the opener. He followed that with 116 against Australia and 108 against Pakistan, finishing with 578 runs from 10 matches, at 64. Borthwick believes Ravindra was always destined for greatness, recalling him getting up at 4.30am most mornings to fit in a practice session before school. His nickname for Ravindra at school was ‘The Rolls-royce’, playing on his initials RR.
“RR, just the way he played his game – elegant and good to watch.
“I’ve worked with a lot of very talented cricketers who just didn’t work nearly as hard as he did. He’s the full package. He likes to explore things, he’s inquisitive, he likes to learn, he works really hard at his game.”
It took Ravindra a matter of months to be fast-tracked into the First XI after snaring 7-10 from 9.2 overs against the Wellington College Seconds in Year 9 in 2013.
Ravindra’s ability to have an impact on the sport in New Zealand, both on and off the field, could not be understated, Borthwick says.
With Indian origins, he appealed to a wide demographic. “He brings that whole South Asian aspect into cricket in New Zealand, which is huge for us.
“We’ve got to embrace that at 100 miles an hour because young Indian boys can now look at Rachin and say, I can be that guy, or look at [Indian-born legspinner] Ish Sodhi and say, I can be like that guy.”
Former Black Cap and national selector Gavin Larsen was Cricket Wellington chief executive from 2007-11. The name ‘Rachin Ravindra’ started cropping up a lot around the office with the talented batter and left-arm spinner wowing at schoolboy level.
Larsenn’s earliest memory of Ravindra is “when he was about 7 years old, when he was batting in the indoor nets at Hutt Recreation Ground with his dad at 6.30 in the morning”.
“I saw a Youtube clip at some stage. He was talked about years and years ago. He was on a journey very, very early. I kept being told ‘there’s a young lad in the system, Gav, watch him go’, and everyone has been proven right.”
A decade later, Larsen, as Black Caps selector, was tasked with finding the right time to usher Ravindra into the New Zealand side. A test debut against his father’s birth country came in Kanpur in November 2021 at 22.
Ravindra played three tests early on, but had to wait another two years for his next red-ball outing internationally. He made quite the return, cracking 240 against South Africa in Mt Maunganui in February.
“I’m a massive believer [in] always surround yourself with good people, great people if you can, and Rachin is a great human being. He’s got excellent values,” Larsen says.
“Then you start to talk about his cricketing ability and we’re looking at a player that has the potential to be a decade-plus Black Caps international cricketer. He’s got a great head on his shoulders, he’s a good thinker of the game.
“A key part of that is the work he put in through his formative years has positioned him just beautifully.”
Central to Ravindra’s development as a young cricketer were his annual trips to India with the Hutt Hawks, which Krishnamurthy helped organise.
Ravindra went about 15 times, from when he was 8 until last year. Not only did he experience foreign batting conditions, but he tested himself against older, stronger opposition.
“You just can’t underestimate for Rachin going back there year-on-year-on-year-on-year, how much that must have helped him in his journey,” Larsen says.
Cricket Wellington’s director of cricket and former New Zealand opener Bruce Edgar is not surprised by how Ravindra’s batting has taken off over the last year. There were always going to be growing pains in his early days in international cricket. A deep thinker, Ravindra had quickly figured out how to shift between the three formats and judge the tempo of an innings.
Edgar was Ravindra’s first Firebirds domestic coach and became impatient at waiting for him to become available for Wellington.
“I remember saying it to [Black Caps coach] Gary Stead last year, he’s got stronger, he hits the ball harder and he plays wonderful cricket shots all around the ground. He’s now got the power because he’s a stronger guy, he’s a bigger guy,” Edgar says.
“He’s got a whole range of shots and he’s got very fast hands. He’s very classical in a way. He doesn’t seem to wander around the crease too much, he doesn’t charge bowlers. He stands there and delivers, and he can now hit it a long way because he’s got so much more power.”
Former Australian international Brendon Julian mused in commentary this summer that Ravindra had all the qualities to one day finish alongside Williamson as New Zealand’s greatest batter. It was lofty praise, but Edgar says Ravindra could be anything he wanted to be.
“He’s going to go and be one of our great players. He loves the game, he’s a great student of the game. He’s always learning and he’s great technically. He’s always developing the technical aspect and the tactical parts and he’s mentally strong.
“If he chooses to stay in the game, who knows where he’s going to end up. It’s going to be great viewing in the next 10 years, that’s for sure.”
It would be easy for Ravindra to develop a cocky swagger after a stellar past 12 months. Everything had fallen his way and the accolades were as plentiful as his runs.
Krishnamurthy describes his son as a cricket tragic. His deep love for the game and humble Hutt roots would always keep him grounded.
He joked that if his son ever got too big for his boots he would be the first to get stuck into him. Knowing Ravindra’s demeanour and relentless work ethic that seems unlikely.
“Off the field is probably more important to us and to him. To be fair, he has got great people around him ...
“It’s only cricket. We’re not saving lives, we’re not surgeons, we’re not gods. Your job is to play cricket and that’s what he loves doing. There’s no need to be too arrogant about it.”
“It’s only cricket. We’re not saving lives, we’re not surgeons, we’re not gods. Your job is to play cricket and that’s what he loves doing.’’
Ravi Krishnamurthy, Ravindra’s father
“He was talked about years and years ago. He was on a journey very, very early.’’
Gavin Larsen on Rachin Ravindra