Ahmedabad: Rachin Ravindra had a cracker of an innings, notching up his first international century against England, an innings that saw New Zealand register a stupendous win in the ODI World Cup opener at Narendra Modi Stadium here.
After a ravishing 123 not out along with Devon Conway who smashed an unbeaten 152, Ravindra had an opportunity to share his thoughts on his accomplishment; his idol and his Indian connection.
Firing the first salvo at the post-match press conference, Ravindra said he idolises Sachin Tendulkar whose batting and technique, he added, was beautiful to watch.
"... Obviously, I idolised Sachin Tendulkar. I think a lot of people did. I think the way he batted and his technique was beautiful to watch," he said.
Talking about copying the style of left-handed batsmen, Ravindra named Brian Lara and Kumar Sangakkara. "I guess being lefty, there's guys you look at, I love Lara, I love Sangakkara, just the usual gun left-handers, but Tendulkar was definitely the idol," he said.
Ravindra made these comments when he was asked about idiolising Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid. In fact, his parents named him after Tendulkar and Dravid.
"Yeah, I think those two are pretty special cricketers. Obviously, I've heard a lot of stories and watched a lot of footage and I guess the influence from my parents and my dad sort of and the old-school Indian cricketers was pretty cool. Being able to watch a lot of their highlights and stuff ...," he said.
Asked how proud he was of scoring the first international hundred in India where he has the roots, Ravindra said he has a sense of family connection whenever he is in Bengaluru where his grandparents live.
"Yeah, I think a hundred is always special, but I guess in terms of being able to perform in India is pretty cool. I think, like you said, it's cool to have Indian roots. It was nice to have my parents there watching and they flew over from New Zealand.
"So, it’s cool to have that moment and obviously it's always nice coming to India. I have a sense of family connection whenever I'm in Bangalore and being able to see my grandparents and stuff so yeah, it's pretty cool," he said.
Asked whether there was extra satisfaction for him and Conway to win the match for their adopted country, Ravindra said though his family is from India, he sees himself as Kiwi, and being able to win a game for New Zealand is always special.
"Well, I guess we're both sort of Kiwis now. I was born in New Zealand and since my family's from India, yeah, but I completely see myself as Kiwi and obviously very proud of my roots and my ethnicity, but I think Devon would be the same, same to say.
"I think he's sort of adopted New Zealand as his home for the last five, six years and I'd say he's completely Kiwi. So, I mean, being able to win a game for your nation is always special," he said. (UNI)