Ravi Krishnamurthy, 53, cannot get a chant out of his head since the time he returned to his home in Wellington after the short trip to India to watch his son Rachin Rabindra play the World Cup.

The software engineer, who migrated to New Zealand in the ’90s, was at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru when Rachin, playing Pakistan, smashed his third century of the tournament. Shouts of “Raachin, Raachin” echoed around the stadium and Krishnamurthy’s mind wandered to the famous “Saachin, Saachin” cheer he would be part of when his hero, Sachin Tendulkar would walk in to bat at the same venue.

While speaking to The Indian Express Krishnamurthy calls it a “truly unique and heart-warming experience”. For a father who named his son after Tendulkar and his other cricketing idol Rahul Dravid it was a truly emotional moment.

“Listening to these chants stirs up a sense of nostalgia for me, as I, like many others, had the privilege of witnessing the greatness of Tendulkar, and I was among those who passionately chanted his name in the stadiums. For Rachin, the chants serve as a reminder of the high standards and dedication that Tendulkar epitomized throughout his career,” says Krishnamurthy. 

The software engineer also runs a cricket club, Hut Hawks, in Wellington and spent most of his waking hours thinking of ways to make his son a better cricketer. 

In Mumbai on Wednesday, when India plays New Zealand for a place in the World Cup final on 19th November, skipper Rohit Sharma will hope to get the in-form Rachin out early. With 565 runs and 3 hundreds, the Kiwi all-rounder is placed second on the highest run-getters list. He is New Zealand’s most-trusted match-winner and easily the find of the tournament.

Krishnamurthy steers away from making any comment about the big game. Before the high-stake game, Rachin’s Bengaluru-based grandparents too avoided the media. However, a social media clip of his grandmother performing the “drishti rituals” to keep away the evil eye has gone viral. The father is not getting carried away by his son’s World Cup success.

He takes a philosophical view of the praise that is being directed at Rachin. “To be recognised as a future player is an honour rather than a burden in my opinion. You could perceive it either as pressure or opportunity. We’d rather take it as an opportunity. If it doesn’t come off, you learn from it and go at it again. If it does come off, then you go at it again anyway,” he says.