BENGALURU: As New Zealand's Rachin Ravindra made his way for practice at the M Chinnaswamy stadium here on Wednesday, he stopped at the commemorative wall which had Rahul Dravid's silhouette and his statistics in international cricket. He couldn't have found a better place to reflect on the crunch match against Sri Lanka on Thursday.
Much like their 2019 campaign, New Zealand's entry into the semifinals hangs in the balance.
That said, irrespective of the distance the Kiwis will travel in the competition, one of the biggest takeaways for them will be the form of the 23-year-old Rachin.
"He is an amazing talent. He just entered the international arena and to walk into a World Cup here in India is incredible in a lot of ways. He has come into a role that perhaps he hasn't played. Be it opening or top three, what he's done is amazing," skipper Kane Williamson said.
"We sort of knew the talent was there, but to come out and be one of the players of the tournament so far is great. Not only with the bat he's also making valuable contributions with the ball. Very, very special player and great that he's on our side," he added.
The New Zealand bowling attack has struggled to come together and in their four consecutive losses that has pegged them back, the Black Caps have conceded in excess of 1200 runs. The return of Lockie Ferguson from an Achilles injury has bolstered the skipper's confidence. "He balances out our attack and has made some valuable contributions in the tournament so far. We'll have to have a look at the surface and decide on our balance," Williamson said.
