“Rampaging Ravichandran and Ravindra Vs RESOLUTE Rachin” was the last hour drama at the Kanpur Test – Tenacity, grit and determination won the day; New Zealand kept India at bay, surviving to fight one more battle soon, in MUMBAI!

The young debutant, Rachin Ravindra, was the wall between India and the Victory, that the entire might of Indian team could not penetrate, forget about breaking the timber!

I read somewhere, in an article not long ago when he was first drafted in New Zealand team a few months ago, that young RaChin (22) was named after RAhul dravid + saCHIN tendulkar and was brought up feeding on the stories and visuals about these two greats who straddled the world of cricket like colossus for over two and half decades! And RaChin, making his debut in test cricket, truly demonstrated what he is made of!

The first Test between India and New Zealand ended in a draw as the Blackcaps saved the match with just one wicket in hand, as debutant Rachin Ravindra played out 91 deliveries and remained unbeaten on 18, along with last man Ajaz Patel who held his ground for 23 deliveries for his 2! Rachin was shielding Ajaz throughout their partnership from the Indian spin trio, Ravichandran Ashwin (6 wickets in the match), Ravindra Jadeja (5) and Axar Patel (6) who almost found a way past New Zealand’s strong resolve, but debutant Rachin Ravindra was not the one to yield even a micro-inch, between his bat and pad!

For India, the match will be remembered for the heroics with the bat by the other RESOLUTE debutant in the match Shreyas Iyer, who scored a century in the first innings and took India out of deep trouble in the second with a gritty knock of 65 runs. Wicket-keeper batter Wriddhiman Saha scored a defiant half-century in the second innings, despite having a stiff neck, and opener Shubman Gill contributed with a half-century in the first innings as the hosts put in a complete team performance but failed to grind out a win in the end.

The RACHIN has costed India not only a victory, but also, I am told, 12 WORLD TEST CHAMPIONSHIP points that India would have gained on a win, that may prove to be very crucial on the way to top the championship points table!

I just did not narrate the story of what happened in the last one hour of the Kanpur Test, the latest test match between finalists of the last world test championship but shared the story of what human beings are made of.

If only we are RESOLUTE, FEARLESS, RELENTLESS, and RUTHLESS, if only we BELIEVE and STRIVE, we shall always THRIVE.

Hope you got what I wished to say!

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