Former Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag took a dig at Pakistan after Rachin Ravindra scored an impressive ton on Saturday.
Ravindra hit his third century of the World Cup while captain Kane Williamson fell agonisingly short of three figures as New Zealand piled up the runs in their crucial World Cup clash against Pakistan in Bengaluru on Saturday. Ravindra reached three figures off 88 balls with 14 fours and a six.
Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, Sehwag said that Ravindra, who was named after Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, batted like the Indian greats.
The 23-year-old left-hander had already made an unbeaten 123 in a convincing nine-wicket win against defending champions England and 116 in the five-run defeat to Australia.
Williamson, back in the team after breaking his thumb earlier in the tournament, fell for 95 after sharing a 180-run second wicket partnership with Ravindra.
The skipper hit 10 fours and two sixes in his 79-ball innings but was out caught by Fakhar Zaman off Iftikhar Ahmed with the total on 248 in the 35th over.
Earlier, Pakistan won the toss and opted to field in the crucial World Cup clash against New Zealand.
Williamson, who had only recovered from knee surgery just before the tournament, featured in the match against Bangladesh in Chennai on October 13 during which he fractured his thumb and missed the subsequent games.
Pakistan all-rounder Shadab Khan is still unavailable for selection after suffering concussion during the one-wicket defeat against South Africa.
Besides Williamson, New Zealand named spinner Ish Sodhi in place of injured seamer Matt Henry, Will Young made way for the skipper while Mark Chapman replaced James Neesham.
New Zealand are currently fourth in the 10-team table with eight points after their opening four wins were followed by three defeats.
Pakistan, with six points, need to win to stay in contention for a semi-final place.
Teams:
New Zealand: Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra, Kane Williamson (capt), Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham (wkt), Mark Chapman, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Trent Boult
Pakistan: Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam (capt), Mohammad Rizwan, Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Agha Salman, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Wasim, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf
- Rachin Ravindra