In the current ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 in India, New Zealand’s breakout star is Rachin Ravindra. Having made his tournament debut, he has been in outstanding form, amassing three hundreds and being a key player in the team’s run to the semi-finals. What’s really cool about his name is how it combines the well-known surnames of Indian batting greats Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar, giving his incredible journey a fascinating new meaning.
During an open discussion with the official World Cup broadcaster, the rising star revealed the origin of his unusual name. His father, a native of Bengaluru who immigrated to New Zealand, disclosed that his wife came up with the name first. It’s interesting to note that they subsequently found out that it accidentally combined the fabled names of Sachin and Rahul. It was a charming discovery that underscored how coincidental the cricketer’s name was.
“When Rachin was born, my wife suggested the name, and we didn’t spend a lot of time discussing it. The name sounded good, was easy to spell, and short, so we decided to go with it. It was only some years later that we realised the name was a mix of Rahul and Sachin’s names. He wasn’t named with the intention to make our child a cricketer or anything of the sort,” Ravi Krishnamurthy, Ravindra’s father, said as quoted by The Print.
Even though Ravindra wasn’t originally named in Tendulkar and Dravid’s honor, he quickly made a lasting impression on cricket history. In terms of surpassing Tendulkar’s records, he has already done so in a few areas, including most World Cup runs and centuries by the age of 25. With 565 runs at the moment, he is third on the run-scoring standings, behind South Africa’s Quinton de Kock and India’s Virat Kohli.
As the high-stakes semi-final showdown between India and New Zealand looms, all eyes will undoubtedly be on the Kiwi all-rounder.
