'Unlucky' New Zealand Worthy Of ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Trophy, Says Irfan Pathan

New Zealand kicked off their World Cup 2023 campaign with a thumping nine-over win against Jos Buttler's England in the opening game of the tournament on Thursday.

Irfan Pathan and Black Caps. (Source: ANI)

The Cricket World Cup 2023 kickstarted with a sort of an upset. Hot favourites England received a thrashing in the hands of New Zealand, who were playing without some of their top players. It was a rematch of the World Cup 2019 final which New Zealand had lost on basis of the boundary count, a rule exists no more. After winning the toss, New Zealand invited England to bat first at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad. The Three Lions never got going in the match as despite scoring with good run-rate, they kept on losing wicket at regular intervals.

England made 282 for 9 in 50 overs powered by 77 made by Joe Root. It was expected that the English bowlers were not going to make it easy for the New Zealand batters in the chase but that did not turn out to be the case. Rachin Ravindra, batting at No 3, slammed his maiden ODI as well as World Cup hundred to shock the England players. Devon Conway struck a 152 off 121 balls to take New Zealand to a dominant nine-wicket win.   

Devon Conway _ Rachin Ravindra.

The highest partnership for New Zealand at a men's @cricketworldcup. #StatChat #CWC23 pic.twitter.com/el0tcRPDYo— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) October 6, 2023

Speaking on the last World Cup final which New Zealand lost due to a controverdial rule, Irfan Pathan said, "New Zealand may be a small country, but when they play at the World Cup, they cause trouble for big countries. They appear united and play as a team."

Referencing the circumstances around England's controversial win at the last World Cup, Irfan Pathan agreed that New Zealand was worthy of the trophy. He commented, " I completely agree, and I think Gautam (Gambhir) sitting next to me also agrees. New Zealand has been extremely unlucky, especially in the last World Cup."

Further talking about the New Zealand team, Irfan Pathan highlighted bowler Rachin Ravindra's performance against England. He said, "He played a great innings during the practice match. He looked very impressive, though they batted up. But here too, the way he bowled into the stump, trying to get Joe Root out on LBW."

Rachin Ravindra was born on November 23, 1999, in Wellington, New Zealand. He started playing cricket at a young age and quickly gained attention for his skills. His parents, who were huge fans of Indian cricket legends Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar, named him Rachin, taking 'Ra' from Rahul and 'Chin' from Sachin.