WC 2023 off to a rousing start - Rachin Ravindra & Devon Conway thrash England

There apparently is no fever – but the World Cup has begun !!  - The 2023 ICC Men's Cricket World Cup is the 13^th  edition of  a quadrennial One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament contested by men's national teams and organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). The tournament is being hosted by India, started on 5 October and scheduled to finish on 19 November 2023.

 

Ten national teams are in the fray : Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa and Sri Lanka. Teams had to progress to the tournament via the 2023 Cricket World Cup qualification process, with the West Indies missing out for the first time in their history.   

The Tournament got underway with the 1^st Match a Day/Night affair at Ahmedabad.   Batting first, England finish on 282 for 9. They were 252 for 9 in the 46th over   

The first match of the WC – rematch of England and New Zealand -  Super Over(s) 2019 is etched in memory.  Four years on from that mind-blowing World Cup final at Lord's, they raise the curtain on the 2023 edition, their ageing golden generations looking for one more chance to shine.   Remarkably, it's not the first time that these two teams have opened a World Cup in Ahmedabad - way back in 1996, Mike Atherton's England took on Lee Germon's New Zealand at the Sardar Patel Stadium (as it was known before its gigantic refit).  That day  New Zealand won, by 11 runs thanks to a Nathan Astle century, but were soundly thrashed by every other major team they faced, including by Australia in the quarter-finals. As for England, the less said the better. Not even their dismal display in 2015 ranks lower in their annals of World Cup misery. 

For today’s contest – NZ cup was full of woes.  Kane Williamson nursing his way back from an ACL injury. Tim Southee still can't feel the tip of his broken thumb. Lockie Ferguson has a back problem,   but - Mitchell Santner produced a rare 10-over spell of bowling - England couldn't hit him for a single boundary, and that hasn't happened in ODIs since 2018.  

For those of us who watched – Kiwis won so powerfully.   The second  wicket partnership 273 off 211 balls with 30 fours and eight sixes – took  NZ through with nine wickets and 82 balls to spare.  There were two Centurions CSK Conway and .. .. Rachin, Rachin !! 

 

Devon Conway's 83-ball century was the fastest for New Zealand at the men's ODI World Cup, beating Martin Guptill, 88 balls vs Bangladesh in 2015.  .. that was to be only briefly as   Rachin Ravindra, the 23-year old playing only his 9th ODI innings, getting to three-figures in 82 balls.   He is  the second-youngest player to score a century on debut in the men's ODI World Cup, behind Virat Kohli 

So today, the web is full with searches on Rachin, who !? -  New Zealand, have benefitted from a talent-identification system that has been built around their six major associations and their coaches who have been working in sync with Paul Wiseman, the overall in-charge and current head coach of the Under-19 side. 

In December 2020, this guy dislocated his right shoulder during a Super Smash outing for Wellington Firebirds. A visit to the surgeon later that evening brought him news that he would be out of action for at least nine months. The news was crushing because he  had been earmarked as a player to watch at NZC's High Performance camps in Lincoln. At that moment, he considered spending the winter finishing up a few papers for the Computer Engineering degree that he was pursuing. However, surgery wasn't a straightforward option. The surgeon in Wellington was completely booked out for the month, so  he  had to wait for a slot to open up.   That boy -  Rachin Ravindra !! 

In year 2018 -  Rachin Ravindra only 16 years of age  was the youngest New Zealander to feature in the 2016 World Cup in Bangladesh, where he impressed with his left-arm spin, but couldn't quite replicate his success with the bat.  In Sept 2021,   Rachin Ravindra made his debut – was out for a first ball duck, bowled 4 overs for 21 runs taking a wicket but would like to forget the match as New Zealand crumbled to 60 all out in T20I 1243 at Mirpur, Bangladesh.  Kiwis  crashed and burned to 60 all out on a challenging Mirpur surface, failing to utilise their full complement of overs.  This was Bangladesh's first-ever victory over New Zealand in T20Is. 

Rachin Ravindra’s  father Ravi  Krishnamurthi , a  software system architect, played a decent level of cricket in his hometown Bengaluru, before he left India to settle down in New Zealand after stints in England, Singapore and Australia. He, however, continued to remain in touch with some of his club team-mates like Javagal Srinath and J Arunkumar. Rachin’s father is the founder of the Hutt Hawks Club in New Zealand, which brings players over to India every summer. With the Hutt Hawks team, Rachin has been annually visiting India since 2011 to play the red ball cricket across Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Chennai.

 
With regards – S. Sampathkumar
5^th Oct 2023