Rachin Ravindra of New Zealand is hugged by teammate Devon Conway Photo: PHOTOSPORT
At just 25 years old, Black Caps' batting star Rachin Ravindra has already been an international cricketer for ten years.
The proud Wellingtonian chats to Saturday Morning's Susie Ferguson about how meditation helps keep him calm on and off the field and why he's grateful his dad is his toughest critic.
Born to Indian parents, Ravindra said that while he's proud of his heritage he considers himself "100 percent Kiwi".
"My mates are here. I speak like a Kiwi. All my habits are like a New Zealander."
Part of being a Kiwi, he said, is humility.
"We keep our feet grounded. We're simple, we enjoy the simple things in life and that's important.
While it's great that the Black Caps are celebrated, they're "just sportsmen", he said.
"We're not saving lives, you know. It's sport, it's not life or death. It's just enjoyable. Playing a game that we love for a living. We're very grateful that we can do this - travel the world, live a comfortable life.
"I'm giving to this country, I'm giving to the people around me and that's what makes me happy… Every time you put on the fern and the cap, it's a wonderful opportunity to represent this country and I love every moment."
Rachin Ravindra of New Zealand Photo: PHOTOSPORT
When he was very young, Ravindra's father - a huge cricket fan - became his coach and still is today.
"Without cricket, me and Dad wouldn't be as close as we are so I'm obviously very grateful for that."
While having a father as a sports coach can be challenging Ravindra said when he was a kid his father would always make it clear when he was switching between his dad and coach roles.
"I'm very grateful for him because he's my toughest critic, you know. He's always there telling me how it is… how often do you get that in sport and in coaching circles?
"Often guys want to pump your tyres up, which is great - confidence is huge - but sometimes you need to keep it real. If you didn't have that, you wouldn't keep learning."
When Ravindra was a teen, his father led training tours to India for his son and a group of other young Wellington cricketers, who are some of the Black Cap's best mates now.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT
At 15 - when he got picked for New Zealand's under-19 national team - Ravindra said he first realised that his cricket playing could actually be a career.
Now when he plays with the Black Caps in India, Ravindra's Bangalore-based family come out in "serious numbers".
As do a lot of other Indians when there's a big cricket match - sometimes Ravindra said he'll hear a crowd of 100,000 people chanting his name.
While this level of fame can mean not being able to leave his hotel room, he's grateful to get this support from his parent's birth country.
"We wouldn't have a career if these people didn't care and didn't love the game that we play so deeply."
Ravindra's "quite unique" first name Rachin is an amalgamation of Indian cricketers Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar's first name.
As a kid, he said Tendulkar was someone he especially looked up to so it was cool to watch his namesake on TV.
"The biggest thing that I took from him was his ability to play fearless cricket with the pressure of a billion people on his shoulders.
"No matter what the pressure is, you go out there and take the game on or take the situation on and you have no fear."
Photo: Melanie Phipps
Cricket is 90 percent a mental game, Ravindra thinks.
"Cricket's a game where you face a ball and you've got, I don't know, 20 seconds, 30 seconds in between. You're like 'Okay, what brings me back to what's important right now? And it's that moment, right?
"[What's key] is your ability to stay calm and make clear decisions, use your breath, be still and let your reactions take over."
Focusing completely on just one thing at a time is a skill Ravinder now uses in all areas of his life.
"You're fully focused and engaged on that one task. If your mind is somewhere else you're obviously not going to be able to make clear decisions when the ball's coming down to you."
He first started meditating to help his cricket performance but now said it improves his experience in general.
"I'm living a calmer life. I'm happy most of the time. I'm accepting things a lot easier and able to move on from stuff which is quite special. It's a very interesting topic, something I could talk about for hours… I reckon it's huge and it energises me a lot."
When he's in the right "flow", Ravindra can get into a meditative state when he's bating.
"It's so calm, so still - I love it. Whereas if too many things are going on it exhausts me.
"No matter how many people are screaming your name, no matter what they're chanting, no matter you know what the noise is, who you're facing - Australia, India - I think you got to be comfortable in your own space."
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