In Rachin, there is less of ‘Ra’ and more of ‘Chin’: Dravid

PTI, Oct 7, 2023, 8:28 AM IST

Chennai: Rahul Dravid’s sense of humour is often an understated aspect of his persona and it was evident when as he indulged in some light-hearted banter about how New Zealand’s new batting hero Rachin Ravindra’s batting has heavy duty influence of Sachin Tendulkar and less of him.

Ravindra, who is of Indian descent, scored a scintillating hundred in the opening World Cup game against England.
His Bengaluru-born parents named him Rachin, taking Rahul’s ‘Ra’ and Sachin’s ‘chin’. Did you know about that?

“Watching him bat yesterday, he hit five sixes… Maybe it was more ‘chin’ that was there. Not sure, I hit the ball off the square at all. I couldn’t hit the ball off the square at all. Maybe the Sachin in it helped him certainly,” Dravid showed his ability to laugh at himself and also make others laugh in the process.

The India head coach did watch his innings and was mighty impressed.

“Yeah, bits and pieces of it. I thought both of them played really well. Obviously got New Zealand off to a really flying start in the tournament and looked like the wicket really became a good one as the game went on. And yeah, both of them batted really well.”

Rachin had come in as a tail-ender in a Test match in Kanpur in 2021 and batted for nearly an hour and half to draw the game on a slow turner.

“Yeah, I think he played a Test match against us in Kanpur and I do remember him because he saved the Test match,” Dravid said with an admiration in his tone.