New Zealand opening batter Devon Conway and all-rounder Rachin Ravindra announced their arrival in front of the world as a batting pair against England last night. However, the camaraderie between the two of them goes a long away as both of them are “close friends” off the field.
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Conway and Ravindra live close to each other in Wellington and also play for the same domestic team. When not on national duty, the two usually spend their whole day together. Apart from training and playing cricket during the winter of 2018, they even bonded over video games. In a conversation with ESPNCricinfo, Conway had once recalled how they used to spend time at each other’s place playing Grand Theft Auto (GTA).
Not part of their ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 squad, New Zealand wicket-keeper batter Tom Blundell is also a part of this friendly trio. Unlike Conway, Blundell was lucky enough to be present at Ravindra’s memorable professional occasion in the form of a Test debut against India in November 2021. Conway, on the other hand, had to watch the occasion miles away on his television set.
Devon Conway Registers 5th Highest 2nd Wicket ODI Partnership With ‘Close Friend’ Rachin Ravindra
Chasing a 283-run target in the tournament opener at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Thursday, New Zealand had lost opener Will Young (0) on the first ball of the second over.
Playing in place of injured captain Kane Williamson, Ravindra joined Conway at No. 3 with a responsibility of putting together a solid partnership as another wicket would have added extreme pressure. What followed were the two left-handed batters remaining unbeaten till the end to earn a clinical 9-wicket victory in just 36.2 overs.
Quite positive in their approach from the word go, Conway and Ravindra had looked to accumulate runs instead of going into a shell after the fall of an early wicket. Having made sure to hit loose deliveries for boundaries, them respecting good deliveries by milking singles and doubles further frustrated the English fielders. With Conway taking his time initially, Ravindra made the job easier by scoring boundaries from the other end.
Readers must note that Conway and Ravindra’s 273-run partnership is the fifth-highest second-wicket partnership in the history of ODI cricket. West Indies’ Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels (372 runs), India’s Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid (331 runs), Sourav Ganguly Dravid (318 runs) and Ishan Kishan and Virat Kohli (290 runs) are at the top four positions respectively.
It is quite interesting that three out of these top five partnerships have come in the World Cups. It is worth of a mention that Gayle and Samuels and Ganguly and Dravid had achieved their feats during World Cups in 2015 and 1999 respectively.
Furthermore, Conway and Ravindra’s stand is the second-best partnership for any wicket among New Zealand’s batters in ODIs. This is also the fourth-highest partnership for any wicket in the history of world events and the second-highest for any wicket against England in this format.
Devon Conway Had Missed Rachin Ravindra’s Test Debut In Kanpur
Having made his Test debut against England months before Ravindra, Conway had missed New Zealand’s tour of India 2021 due to a hand injury. During ICC T20 World Cup 2021 semi-final against England, Conway had got injured when he struck his bat just after getting out. As result, he also had to miss the final of the tournament. However, Blundell presenting Ravindra with a Test cap was also pretty special.
During a New Zealand A camp in 2019, Conway was surprised with how well Ravindra was playing against the spinners in the nets. Because of the same, he was not worried when Ravindra was up against quality Indian spinners 22 months ago.
