Jeet Raval’s journey proves that passion and perseverance can shape a life beyond boundaries. From representing New Zealand on the cricket pitch to building a career in accounting, he’s found purpose in both sport and service, writes David Porter.
The new Bay of Plenty chartered accountants include: Kelly Alexander , Toby Bell, Aimee Belz, Kata Brill, Cory Brown, Sarah Burton, Ella Davison, Enya Finlayson, Lys Game, Anna-Lee Garnham, Katie Gimblett, Helen Gunn, Sarah Huang, Rikki-Lee Joyce, Nicole Kildare, Michael Lineham, Lachlan McBride, Harry Moss, Grace Phan, Jeet Raval, Sam Reeves, Aimee Rolfe, Aisha Short, Campbell Smith, Madison Swap, Jie Wang.
Tauranga-based Jeet Raval has successfully combined a career as a professional cricketer with his role as a qualified accountant at BDO.
A former member of the Black Caps test team from 2016 to 2020, he now captains the Northern Districts side.
In 2017, Raval also played county cricket in the UK for Yorkshire County Cricket Club.
A proud Kiwi, Raval comes from a family that moved to New Zealand from India, a country renowned for its deep love of cricket.
“Playing sport [professionally] is a privilege and an honour, but you don’t know how long it will last, and my parents always encouraged me in education,” Raval says.
Jeet Raval pictured with his wife Surabhi Shukla-Raval after receiving his chartered accountants certificate.
Last month he received his chartered accountants’ certificate at the Bay Oval cricket grounds where he played his first test match.
He explained the way the cricket landscape was set up in New Zealand is that cricket is played in summer for a contract.
“But in the winter months you are sort of on your own and so you spend time on your cricket but also do other things. I chose to do my study in my off season.”
Raval began his journey as a professional accountant with BDO in Auckland, and the company allowed him time to play in the summer cricket season.
“It worked well for them as most of the entities in New Zealand have a March year-end. April to December can be busy. Cricket has given me so many transferrable skills – including resilience, perseverance and teamwork – and these have helped me to develop in my role at BDO.”
During his period with the Black Caps, Raval was on a full-year cricketing contract. He kept up his chartered accountant exams but put his accounting career on hold for a time before returning to New Zealand cricket and BDO.
The arrangement worked well, and he served in the Auckland BDO office for about four years, then in 2021 moved down to Tauranga with his family. BDO Tauranga continued with the same part year arrangement.
“It goes without saying that flexibility is essential to help balance my cricket career with my corporate work,” Javal says in an article for a BDO publication.
“I feel incredibly fortunate that BDO Tauranga supports my sport and has allowed me to structure my two jobs the way I do.”
Javal described his accounting career as “also a bit of a lifeline”. He says he was attracted by accounting because he “loved numbers”.
New Fellows inducted last month in Tauranga, from left: Stuart McKinstry, Glenn Sullivan, Dawn Witheford, Nicky Old, Tracy Preston-Lett.
He said his journey with BDO had taken many twists and turns and started back when he was playing cricket full-time for Auckland. The season was ending, and at the tme he was planning to head to England to play over the British summer. But in his last Auckland match, he suffered an injury which meant he couldn’t go.
His coach at the time suggested looking for a job to keep busy over the winter. And as he already had a Bachelor of Commerce, it seemed natural to look in the direction of accounting. He was eventually introduced to Robert Foster, Advisory Partner at BDO Takapuna, and after discussing his passion for cricket and interest in how he could complement this with another role, he was initially brought on at BDO Auckland as a graduate.
He began growing his accounting career there and says in a BDO publication that he really appreciated the value the team spent in helping him grow his accounting career.
“They supported my cricket and provided flexibility to let me have the best of both worlds.”
For young people navigating their own paths, Jeet Raval’s story is a powerful reminder that you don’t have to choose between passion and practicality. Whether it’s sport, study, or something entirely different, he encourages others to stay curious, work hard, and embrace opportunities – even the unexpected ones.
The gala dinner
Jeet Raval with regional councillor Alecia Wright-Chand
