The Indian Weekender has always strived to focus and magnify the good work and talents of Kiwi Indians and Indian community organisations in New Zealand. These individuals or a group of individuals work hard to make a difference in the community and also elevate the pride of the Kiwi Indian community living in New Zealand.
In this new series ‘New Kiwi Indian talents to watch out for in 2020’, The Indian Weekender will bring forth some new talents and faces who over the years have excelled in their profession, putting their hard work and passion in the right place and making the Kiwi Indian community proud.
Cricketer Rachin Ravindra:
Currently playing from the New Zealand A team against the India A team in Christchurch, the 20-year-old all-rounder from Wellington is the new force to watch out for in national and expectedly international cricket.
Having already represented New Zealand in two U19 World Cups, 2016 and 2018, the rising star of New Zealand cricket comes with tons of talent and dreams of playing for the Black Caps someday soon.
Speaking to The Indian Weekender, Rachin’s father Ravi Krishnamurthy says he has been playing cricket from the age as early as two and has been in love with the sport ever since. He joined a club after a few years and started playing with softball. He soon joined Hutt District Cricket Club and has been associated with the club ever since.
At the age of 11, he represented Wellington U13, at the age of 14 he played for U17 team representing his school’s XI team. In 2016, at the age of 17 playing for New Zealand at the U19 World Cup in Bangladesh, Rachin gave a breakthrough three back-to-back performances both with his bat and bowl. He bagged three wickets against West Indies, scored a century against Kenya and then hitting a half-century and taking four wickets making him the first New Zealander to achieve this feat at the U19 World Cups.
He also gave a stupendous performance with several wickets and good scores with his bat in the 2018 World Cup held in New Zealand. Post his string of good performances; International Cricket Council called the prodigy Rachin as the rising star of the squad. Rachin calls his performances at the two World Cups were some of the biggest highlights of his career so far.
Rachin considers Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Ricky Ponting, Daniel Vettori and Brian Lara as his idols growing up and Ross Taylor, Virat Kohli and Steve Smith some of the senior players currently playing he looks up to.
Sharing about the struggles and low times in his career, Rachin says that they have been part and parcel of the game.
“Of course, there are times when you don’t perform particularly well or up to the expected mark, and we do make mistakes that have the propensity to bring you down. But all you can do is learn from your mistakes, and keep performing- giving the best you can,” Rachin Ravindra told The Indian Weekender.
Rachin considers his father one of the motivators and mentors who pushed him, supported him in his passion for cricket. Rachin’s parents moved from Bangalore city in South India to Wellington, New Zealand where he was born and schooled. Rachin is currently pursuing his higher studies in finance besides playing national and domestic cricket.
Rachin also credits his coaches Mark Borthwick and Sriram Krishnamurthy as a driving force and under whose mentorship he reached this far in his career. Rachin is currently playing for Wellington Firebirds.