New Zealand’s Ravindra makes father proud with ‘special’ Test ton

BENGALURU – New Zealand batsman Rachin Ravindra said on Friday he was proud to have hit a Test century ton with his father watching from the stands in his family’s hometown of Bengaluru.
Ravindra, a Wellington-born batting all-rounder whose parents hail from the Indian tech hub, struck 134 to steer New Zealand to a lead of 356 on day three of the opening Test.
“It’s obviously special,” Ravindra said of the knock in his 10th Test. “Having my dad in the crowd was massive. A lot of family were watching the game.”
“I know they’re very proud and it makes me happy that they were able to watch a relative play in their hometown. It’s just very cool. I know dad and mum would be very proud of that,” he said.
“I’m 100 percent Kiwi but it’s nice to have that Indian heritage based here.”
Ravindra, 24, lifted New Zealand from 233-7 to 402 all out in a 137-run eighth-wicket stand with Tim Southee, who hit 65.
After a slow start, Ravindra switched gears and handled veteran Indian spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja with aplomb.
“Obviously world-class bowlers but I think it was the situation that demanded it,” Ravindra said.
“Still a good wicket to bat and important for us to still score runs and it presented itself an opportunity to score.”
Ravindra, who plays spin well on turning sub-continent pitches, made 578 runs including three centuries — one of them in Bengaluru — in 10 matches played in the ODI World Cup in India last year.
He scored 222 runs for five-time winners Chennai Super Kings at a strike-rate of more than 160 in his Indian Premier League debut this year.
“You are always going to be nervous coming into bat in a Test match against India in India, but having success here in the past helped me calm my nerves,” he said.
“I was also here in the IPL, too, which was relatively recent, so those little things stack up, although it’s a different format but you take confidence from those performances.”
He finally fell to Kuldeep Yadav’s left-arm wrist spin as the New Zealand innings ended in the second session.
“He batted well. He is a good player and has improved in the last two years,” Kuldeep said of Ravindra.
“He has a good technique and was comfortable against the spinners. I hope he doesn’t play like this in the upcoming matches.”
The second Test begins on October 24 in Pune, with the third starting on November 1 in Mumbai.
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By Faisal Kamal