How Kiwi sensation Rachin conquered Indian stadiums

As a kid you always dream of crowd chanting your name: Rachin Ravindra on Dharamsala spectators

It is impossible for Rachin Ravindra to have not heard stories about the iconic 'Sachiiiiiin Sachiiiiin' chants that reverberated around Indian stadiums for two decades.

But on a soothing Saturday evening at Dharamsala, when the crowd warmed up to 'Rachhiiiiin Rachiiiin' chants, the youngster from Wellington must have thought that this is what dreams are made of.

A hundred against England in a winning cause in the tournament opener and now a superb 117 off 89 balls against Australia in an improbable chase of 389, which the Black Caps nearly pulled off, Rachin has had a dream World Cup so far.

"As a kid you always dream of the crowd chanting your name and it was cool to see them do that on multiple occasions even when Aussies were batting and when Nish (Jimmy Neesham) did his thing at the end."

"So, I think it's always special, you sort of soak in those moments and hopefully we never really take them for granted," said Rachin, whose name was inspired by Indian cricket icons Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar.

"I think this was probably one of the best crowds we've played in India and having that sort of fanfare and the response, like how they responded to the game was pretty special, I think," the Kiwis No. 3 batter said during the post-match press meet.

He did accept that it was disappointing to lose by five runs but with New Zealand already on eight points, there is still some way to go in this tournament, he felt.

"Obviously, it's disappointing when it gets that close and you're chasing such a big total and to come out a little bit short but I think that's the beauty of cricket like you get the highs and lows of it and it was an exciting game, entertained the fans so look we'll move on and review but got to understand there's still a lot of cricket to be played in this World Cup."

With more than 400 runs in six games, Rachin admitted that he has exceeded his own expectations.

"I guess you probably look at it at the start and be obviously very grateful to be here and how things have worked out," he stated.

Process of building an innings

Rachin gives a very calm feel when he is out there in the middle and even though he doesn't have a huge frame, a stable core and gift of timing helps him hit those mighty sixes.

He felt batting with the likes of Daryl Mitchell does help his game and said he feeds off the energy of the senior batters.

"I think being able to bat with guys who have so much experience helps a lot. I think, obviously, being able to bat with Daryl, having a little partnership with him and the way he went about his business obviously took a little bit of the attack to them," he said about his approach.

"I could sort of feed him (Daryl) or sort of feed off him and then once he got out it was just like I was reacting to the ball and seeing what was in front of me and lucky enough it was a good wicket to bat on so I could sort of just go out there and play my game."

The ODI cricket has its ebbs and flows and there could be phases where the game would seem to drift away before once again coming to their grasp.

"I think the whole thing about 50-over cricket, it's over a long period of time and you build those sort of partnerships. I think that there are probably moments in the game that you might look and be like, oh, we wish it went the other way."

"But I think that's the beauty of this game. Like you can't really go back and flip a switch. Like here you can hopefully get execution better or whether it's plans or something. But as long as our processes are there, then whatever will happen will happen," he added. 

• World Cup 2023