He’s been having a dream outing at the ICC Cricket World Cup in India and Rachin Ravindra has now his eyes set on a ‘dream’ semi-final against India at the Wankhede Stadium.
Ravindra has set the competition on fire, breaking the record for the most runs by a world cup debutant and is currently third highest run-scorer behind Virat Kohli and Quinton de Kock, firmly in race for the golden bat award.
Ravindra has peeled off three centuries and is now looking forward to another big game.
“You dream of playing in front of a full crowd against India, who have gone unbeaten at Wankhede, a ground with so much history. We will stay level, we’ll try our best,” Ravindra told New Zealand Cricket.
Follow all the action from the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 including the World Cup schedule, World Cup 2023 results, and ICC Cricket World Cup points table. Players are vying to top the World Cup 2023 Most Runs and World Cup 2023 Most Wickets charts.
“We know we can’t win every game of cricket, you might lose (or) you can win every game, so we will see how it plays out,” he added.
New Zealand are yet to lay their hands on an ODI world cup trophy but they have been churning out pretty consistent in the global events. This is the third time in a row that they have made the cut to the last-four stage having finishes runners-up in 2015 and 2019.
“We’ve been thinking about the last two World Cups, you’re playing like the most pinnacle games. You play against the Aussies in the MCG (2015 world cup final), you go to Lord’s against England (2019 final) and now you’re playing India at Wankhede (2023 semi-final). So, pretty big fixtures, it’s awesome to have the experience of the guys in the team who have done this before,” Ravindra said.
“It’s a pretty special moment like the way the Blackcaps have been playing over the last 3-4-5 World Cups and being in a stage to compete for the finals and be in the knockout stages; it’s a special sort of moment. I guess, as a kid you always dream of playing in big knockout games and I’m really excited for the match against India,” he added.
New Zealand were hit by multiple injuries including to that of Kane Williamson, Tim Southee among others but they have overcome the setbacks to finish fourth on the points table.
“It shows the squad depth that we have,” Ravindra said. “Obviously, we’ve been unlucky with guys that have been ruled out due to injuries and we feel for the guys who have missed out.”
“If you had asked me at the start of the tournament, would you expect to be in such a situation, well may be, maybe not. But we’re taking it in our stride and we keep going on and enjoying our journey,” he added.
Ravindra’s grandparents reside in Bengaluru and he’s been a crowd favourite when playing at the venue with the fans chanting his name.
“It’s always a dream with the crowd chanting your name. You feel that energy and you feel that vibe when you are in the middle. I guess that energises you quite a bit,” the allrounder said.
“The beauty of batting is you kind of get in your bubble, you hear the crowd in between balls and when you are watching the bowler they fall silent. That’s where batting’s the most fun for me. I appreciate all the support, it’s pretty special,” he added.
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