In the space of a few weeks, Rachin Ravindra's life has changed a bit.
"Walking through the hotel lobby and all of a sudden a bunch of people want your photo or say, 'well played'," the 24-year-old told 1News as he continues to amass impressive batting performances at the Cricket World Cup.
"I think it's obviously very special that it is happening and I'm very grateful for that."
Mainly grateful for helping the team, but Ravindra's individual exploits are mightily impressive, especially for a World Cup rookie.
In the six matches so far at the tournament, the Wellington Firebirds batter has 406 runs to his name at an average of 81.20. He's currently sitting third in the top runscorers list, behind South Africa's Quinton de Kock and David Warner and just ahead of Rohit Sharma with Indian superstar Virat Kohli a few places below in seventh.
"It's pretty surreal. I'm very proud of the runs I've scored, but the runs that I make are for the team and not necessarily for myself," the modest team man said.
"Very grateful to be on that list, some incredible cricketers and I dream of situations like this, but you're not playing a World Cup to be top runscorer."
Making it even more special is doing it in his father's country of birth in front of both his parents and other family members — the number of which in the crowd is likely to grow when he hits Bangalore where his dad is from.
"Hopefully my manager can spare me a few more (tickets) for those games," he quipped. "(But) seeing them (parents) after the games, it just felt normal in the whole whirlwind of the World Cup.
"It's those moments you dream of having your parents watching and managing to do alright, those are the moments you pinch yourself. It was pretty emotional having them there."
He hopes they'll come back if the Black Caps make the knockout stages, something which can be solidified and almost locked in if they can beat South Africa in Pune tonight. The Proteas are sitting pretty just behind leaders and hosts India on the ladder, with five wins from six matches.
"The way they've been playing, scoring a lot of runs by batting first and putting on massive totals, I think it's important we don't big them up as a lot better than us."
Ravindra looks likely to bat three again for New Zealand, with regular skipper Kane Williamson still in "significant pain" from his broken thumb, according to coach Gary Stead.
Paceman Lockie Ferguson and batter Mark Chapman will also be given right up until the toss to prove their fitness as they try to shake off Achilles and calf injuries respectively.
SHARE ME