Kiwi all-rounder Rachin Ravindra scripted history during New Zealand's fixture against Pakistan at the ICC Cricket World Cup in Bengaluru on Saturday.
Kiwi all-rounder Rachin Ravindra has become the first player in the history of World Cup cricket to score three centuries in their debut campaign. The southpaw continued his fine tournament with yet another century against Pakistan in Bengaluru. He was eventualy dismissed for 108 (94). (NZ Vs PAK Blog | Scorecard | Full Coverage)
Ravindra had earlier scored tons against Australia (116) and England (123 not out) in the World Cup. He has also amassed over 500 runs in World Cup and is currently sitting second to South Africa's Quinton de Kock (545).
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During the tournament opener (against England), Ravindra, at 23 years and 321 days, became the youngest Kiwi player to score a WC century. Ravindra broke the record held by former NZ batter Nathan Astle, who achieved the feat at 24 years and 152 days.
Talking about Ravindra, he was born to Indian parents in Wellington, New Zealand. Apart from his batting heroics, he is also an attacking left-arm spinner. The Kiwi all-rounder's father, Ravi Krishnamurthy, is a huge fan of Indian cricketing stalwarts - Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid. And thus he named his son Rachin -- 'Ra' from Rahul and 'chin' from Sachin.
The southpaw has represented New Zealand at the U-19 level, and the A-team as well. His international debut came in 2021 against Bangladesh in a T20I match.
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Earlier, Pakistan opted to bowl first against New Zealand in their World Cup fixture at the M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru. Pakistan made one change, bringing Hasan Ali in place of Usama Mir.
As for New Zealand, they made three changes with fit-again Kane Williamson returning to captaincy duties. He replaced Will Young while Ish Sodhi came in for Matt Henry, who has been ruled out of the tournament with a hamstring injury. The other change in New Zealand's playing eleven is Mark Chapman, who replaced Jimmy Neesham.
Playing XIs:
New Zealand: Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra, Kane Williamson(c), Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham(wk), Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Trent Boult.
Pakistan: Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam(c), Mohammad Rizwan(wk), Iftikhar Ahmed, Saud Shakeel, Agha Salman, Shaheen Afridi, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Haris Rauf.
(With PTI inputs)