Sky Sports’ Michael Atherton hailed New Zealand batter Rachin Ravindra as “one of the brightest young talents in the game” ahead of their clash with India in the final of the Champions Trophy on Sunday.
Ravindra lit it up once again on the world stage with a fifth ODI hundred in the Black Capts’ 50-run win over South Africa in Wednesday’s semi-final – all five of those centuries scored in an ICC global tournament.
Kane Williamson – long hailed as a member of ‘The Fab Four’ best batters in the world game – also notched a 15th ODI ton, but Atherton believes the 25-year-old Ravindra will soon be taking on that mantle when his 34-year-old team-mate moves on.
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Watch the best shots from Rachin Ravindra’s incredible century against South Africa
“Rachin Ravindra is one of the brightest young talents in the game,” Atherton said.
“We say similar about Harry Brook, and there’s Yashasvi Jaiswal too with India, these are the guys who are going to be among the handful of the next generation of greats.
“Kane Williamson has obviously been part of what we call ‘The Fab Four’, along with [Joe] Root, [Steve] Smith and [Virat] Kohli, and I think Ravindra is among the next group of players to take that on.
“He’s a fantastic player, some of the shots he played in the semi-final were so stylish.”
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Highlights of the second ICC Champions Trophy semi-final between New Zealand and South Africa
Former New Zealand wicketkeeper and commentary great Ian Smith said similar when on air for Ravindra’s century was sealed.
“We’re seeing some real class here, absolute brilliance. Batting of the future,” Smith remarked.
“What an innings; fantastic to watch. He’s so easy on the eye, so relaxed, so young!
“He’s so exciting for the game – forget New Zealand – for the game as whole.”
Hussain: New Zealand won’t bottle it in final
Atherton added that he believes “the best two teams from the tournament are in the final”, which is being played in Dubai on Sunday – live on Sky Sports Cricket from 8.30am (first ball, 9am).
The sides have already squared off in Dubai once, in the group stage, on the biggest-turning track of the tournament so far as Varun Chakravarthy starred with figures of 5-42 in a 44-run win.
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India beat New Zealand by 44 runs in a low-scoring contest in the group stage of the Champions Trophy
But Sky Sports’ Nasser Hussain has backed the Black Caps to put in a strong showing in Sunday’s final, saying: “They will not bottle it, they won’t choke.
“We were having dinner with [former Australia batter] Aaron Finch and he summed it up pretty well in saying New Zealand are never a side that beat themselves. And by that, he means that they will rock up and they will put on a performance.
“All the way through the New Zealand lineup they have some very, very tough cricketers who turn up to every single game and give it their absolute best – that’s why they will always be there around semi-finals and finals.
“They also have that great mixture between senior pros that have been there year in, year out – like Kane Williamson, one of the all-time greats – and youth in the likes of Rachin Ravindra.
“They may well lose [New Zealand], but if they do, it will be because India beat them.”
Watch the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy final live on Sky Sports Cricket and Sky Sports Main Event from 8.30am on Sunday (9am first ball)
