Rachin Ravindra Injured; 3 Players Who Can Replace New Zealand Star In Champions Trophy

Rachin Ravindra injury against Pakistan (Source:@Iambakshi/X.com)

Rachin Ravindra is one of the finest young talents in world cricket and has quickly made himself a regular across formats for the Kiwis. He is an aggressive batter at the top of the order and has a good ODI record with 970 runs in 25 innings at an average of 40.41. He was the top-scorer for New Zealand in the 2023 World Cup and was expected to play a big part in Champions Trophy 2025. 

However, his participation has come under serious doubt now as he got hit straight on his face while trying to take a catch of Khushdil Shah in the first ODI of tri-series featurning Pakistan and South Africa. He walked off the field in lot of pain and was bleeding heavily and though the extent of injury is still unknown, such injuries can prove dangerous. Thus, if the young batter takes time to recover and fails to get fit for Champions Trophy, let's see who can be his three replacements.

3. Tim Robinson

Tim Robinson is known for his power-hitting and has been in the scheme of things of New Zealand cricket in white-ball formats. He made his ODI debut for New Zealand on the tour of Sri Lanka in late 2024 and could not make much of an impact, but is rated highly in his country, majorly due to his white-ball antics.

The batter has 48 runs in three ODIs while he has two fifties in his young 17-matches old List A career. However, he has a good T20 record where he has smashed 978 runs in 38 matches at a strike-rate of 140.78 and has a century and six fifties. So, his selection in the ODI format for New Zealand in the past means that the management is hoping that he can translate that shortest format potential into ODI cricket and they can back him to provide the impetus at the top of the order in Champions Trophy too.

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2. Fin Allen

The powerful right-handed batter has played 22 ODIs for New Zealand and has five fifties as well. However, the consistency was missing in his game and it forced the selectors to look beyond him after September 2023, but if Rachin Ravindra is injured, he can make a comeback.

He has the potential to destroy best of the bowlers when he is in his zone and has a decent List A record where he has scored 1875 runs in 61 matches at an average of 31.25 and strike-rate of 109.01. The strike-rate shows that his big knocks will end in his team winning the games more often than not and he is a proven performer in T20Is for the Kiwis. The flat wickets in Pakistan can also help his style of play and he could fill the position of an aggressor at the top of the order in absence of Rachin Ravindra.

1. Henry Nicholls

The southpaw was once a regular in New Zealand's ODI squad and has played plenty of match-winning knocks for them. He missed out on the place in Champions Trophy squad due to emergence of players like Rachin Ravindra and Will Young in recent times. However, if the Rachin gets ruled out now, he could make his way back into the Kiwi squad due to his experience and proven track record.

The batter has 2116 runs at an average of 35.26 and has a century and 15 fifties to his name in ODIs. He is known for his dependable game and has a brilliant List A record where he averages 42.32 with eight hundreds and 33 fifties. 

He has also played four ODI matches in Pakistan and three in UAE which gives him an edge over his competitors who are inexperienced and also have less impressive numbers than Nicholls. Also, he is a left-handed batter and can bat in the middle order too if needed, which makes him flexible and a potential asset for New Zealand.

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