Former Indian wicket-keeper bat Deep Dasgupta has hailed Rachin Ravindra for his fine World Cup performances for New Zealand. After scoring a brilliant knock of 123 runs against England in the World Cup opener at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, Ravindra continued his purple patch against the Netherlands.
The left-hander scored a fine knock of 51 runs against the Dutch at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad on Monday. The southpaw added 77 runs for the second wicket with Will Young, who scored 70 runs.
Dasgupta likened Rachin Ravindra with the 2011 World Cup hero Yuvraj Singh and felt the bat flow of the Bengaluru-born youngster reminds him of the former Indian left-hander.
Deep Dasgupta said while talking to Star Sports, “Rachin Ravindra, the others are also there but the way he scores runs and the bat flow reminds you slightly of Yuvraj Singh – the high bat swing and timing. When you see him, it doesn’t look like he can hit that far but he has such a good bat swing and flow.”
“Whether it is against the fast bowlers or the spinners, square of the wicket or down the ground, he has a massive range. So he is a complete cricketer and is emerging as a complete batter.”
Meanwhile, former Indian batter Mohammad Kaif added that Rachin Ravindra has impressed him the most. Ravindra also scalped one wicket against the Netherlands.
“He has impressed me a lot because this knock was during the day. When you play in the afternoon, the wicket is slow and the ball turns. When he played the first match against England, it was under lights and the pitch was flat, but the ball was turning here.”
“The class was seen here. The six he hit over long-on, it is not an easy shot to play against the spin. He looked extremely compact to me. I didn’t see any weakness that can be exploited. He is just 23 years old but has excellent control over his mind and ability in his batting.”
New Zealand have got off to a great start in the ongoing ODI showpiece as they have won both of their matches. The Kiwis will next take on Bangladesh at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on Friday.
