Dubai: Jeet Raval, the opener with Indian origins who earned a place in New Zealand’s squad for their Test tours of Zimbabwe and South Africa, makes for an inspirational story. During the ICC World Cup 2015 held in Australia and New Zealand, this correspondent often heard Raval’s name come up during discussions among journalists from New Zealand.
The tale of Raval’s rise to fame is a touching one. He was born in Ahmedabad in the western India state of Gujarat. He is another example of reaching the big stage from a humble beginning. His father Ashok Raval left Ahmedabad in search of a better life in New Zealand in 2004 and started off working in a petrol station in Auckland.
Though far from India, the senior Raval was always thinking of encouraging his son who took a big interest in cricket. One late night at the petrol station, a man came to fill petrol wearing a cricket jersey and it happened to be reputed coach Kit Perera. Ashok asked him if he could help his son get an admission in a school that would support budding cricketers if he were to bring Jeet to New Zealand and Perera agreed.
Jeet, then 16, flew in and soon rewarded his father’s faith in him with a string of tall scores. He was soon selected into the Auckland team. In his second first-class innings in March 2009, he scored 256 at Eden Park’s Outer Oval, against a Central Stags attack made up of reputed bowlers like Mike Mason, Mitchell McClenaghan and Doug Bracewell. In the Plunket Shield, New Zealand’s premier domestic competition, he has scored more than 3,500 runs in 54 first-class matches.
Jeet had represented the Gujarat Under-15 and Under-17 teams before leaving for Auckland. He had played alongside Ajinkya Rahane and Ravindra Jadeja. Indian wicketkeeper batsman Parthiv Patel happens to be his good friend and even encouraged him to follow his dream despite leaving India.
Left-handed Jeet idolises former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly but once revealed in an interview that he likes to known as the ‘Wall’ of the team like Rahul Dravid.
Jeet clinched the sixth place among top run-getters on New Zealand’s domestic cricket. Last season, he ran up scores of 202 not out, 139, 90 and 147 in five Plunket Shield matches.
Coach and chief selector Mike Hesson said on Jeet’s selection: “Jeet has been impressive in the Plunket Shield for a number of years now and, in the last 12 months, we’ve seen his maturity and decision-making continue to improve. He’s learnt to adapt to conditions and has performed well for New Zealand A, so we believe he’s more than ready to make the step up to the international arena.”
