Raval was born and raised in Ahmedabad in India, where he grew up playing cricket in his backyard with his cousins,[1] ultimately being successful enough at the sport to represent the state of Gujarat at under-15 and under-17 level.
[1] This led to his selection in New Zealand's national under-19 team, where he was mentored by former international cricketer Dipak Patel.
[2] At the time he had not lived in New Zealand long enough to represent the country in international cricket, restricting him to their under-19 team.
[8] Raval made his first-class cricket debut for Auckland in December 2008 during a tour match against the West Indies.
[2][16] His 2015–16 season was especially prolific, as he scored 1016 runs at an average of 59.76 in 10 first-class matches and Auckland won the Plunket Shield, earning him the attention of New Zealand's national selectors.
[22] Raval was finally selected to make his Test debut for New Zealand in November 2016 in a home series against Pakistan, replacing out-of-form batsman Martin Guptill.
[23] He followed this up in the second innings with an impressive 36 not out, hitting the winning runs for New Zealand with a boundary off the bowling of Yasir Shah.
[30] In February 2018, during a domestic one-day match in New Zealand for Auckland, Raval hit an unusual six off of Canterbury fast bowler Andrew Ellis.
He hit the ball directly back to the bowler, and it ricocheted off of his head and over the long-off boundary for six runs.