Young New Zealand batter Rachin Ravindra is having a dream World Cup, knocking over run-scoring records in his debut at the showpiece ODI tournament. It's, therefore, not a surprise to see the batter of Indian-origin sitting through a ritual being performed by an elder to safeguard him from evil eye, commonly called 'nazar utarna' in Hindi, when he visited his ancesteral home in Bengaluru.
Rachin was in the city with the New Zealand team for its World Cup match against Sri Lanka on Thursday, and the 23-year-old visited his family, who performed the ritual and the video has gone viral. It couldn't be confirmed if the elderly lady performing the ritual is Rachin's grandmother.
Rachin, whose first name was coined from the names of Indian batting legends Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar, currently sits on top of the list of this World Cup's run-getters with 565 runs in nine matches. It is also a world record for most runs in an ODI World Cup debut.
He has also hit three centuries, which is also a world record in a debut World Cup.
Rachin scored 42 runs in New Zealand's five-wicket win over Sri Lanka on Thursday, which has all but confirmed the Kiwi team's entry into the semifinals, where they will join hosts India, five-time winners Australia and South Africa.
New Zealand are set to finish fourth, which will mean that they take on unbeaten table-toppers India in the semi-final.
