First Test: Rachin's love affair with Bengaluru grows with classy ton

A couple of days before the Bengaluru Test, Rachin Ravindra said in an interview that he often felt like pinching himself at the idea that he would be actually playing a Test there in front of his family. After a masterly innings of 134 at a venue which resonated with him in more ways than one on Friday, he would probably be repeating the same lines.

It was arguably one of the best batting efforts in recent times by an overseas batter on Indian soil, a knock which showed what it takes to handle the feared Indian spinners. Resuming the day at 180 for three, New Zealand were in danger in losing the initiative as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals, which is where the 24-year-old showed remarkable maturity in leading the counterattack.

A towering six off Ravindra Jadeja earlier took Ravindra to 94, and he reached 98 by dispatching the very next ball to the fence through the covers. He then swept Ravi Ashwin to reach his second Test hundred, in a city he considers his second home given that his parents Ravi and Deepa were born there and grandparents lived there.

The left-hander showed the correct method to play spinners on this track, either staying on the front foot or making a shimmy down the pitch that nullified the turn and also took the leg-before dismissal out of the equation.

With the pitch easing out a lot, it turned out to be an even contest by the end of the day. The Indian batters applied themselves much better in the second innings with fifties from Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Sarfaraz Khan to whittle down the deficit, setting the stage for what could be two absorbing final days.  

Ravindra’s effort, meanwhile, earned wholesome praise from the legendary Sunil Gavaskar as well as TV pundit Sanjay Manjrekar, among others. ‘’What a hundred this has been from Rachin Ravindra. The most attractive hundred I’ve seen in India in recent times. Equally comfortable against pace and spin. The footwork that he has shown has been simply superb," Gavaskar said.

Manjrekar, meanwhile, said he found similarities with Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid in Ravindra’s batting. ‘’Bit of Rahul bit of Sachin in that innings of Rachin,’’ he tweeted. No prizes for guessing, it was in reference to the apocryphal story circulating during the 50-over World Cup that Ravindra's father, a fan of both the Indian batting legends, had named his son after both.

The IT capital of the country has now proved to be a happy hunting ground for Ravindra. He had scored a blazing hundred against Pakistan during the ODI World Cup here last year as he emerged as the highest scorer for New Zealand with 578 runs. He also represented Chennai Super Kings against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in IPL 2024 after the CSK management picked him up in the mini-auction following his prolific World Cup run.

There was one contentious call against Ravindra in the second session, which raked up a huge debate over the decision review system (DRS). Team India went up for an appeal after the ball went past his outside edge. Dhruv Jurel, coming in as a substitute for Rishabh Pant after the latter’s injury on Thursday, made no mistake and on-field umpire Michael Gough ruled him out.

After a deliberation with non-striker Ajaz Patel, Ravindra hesitantly went up for a review. There was a little spike on Ultra Edge, but it was one frame after the ball had passed the bat. Third umpire Richard Illingworth said he could see a little daylight and hence, he overturned the decision and Ravindra got the big reprieve he needed.