With Ambati Rayudu not around, the Kiwi was in high demand for his power-hitting prowess against tweakers in middle overs
As Daryl Mitchell takes his seat with a filter coffee in a brass dabara set, he appears totally at home in Chennai. “It is the morning shot that I need,” says the Kiwi as he settles down. But, the only thing is, bought at Rs 14 crore at the auction, primarily for his striking abilities against spinners, Mitchell is yet to ascertain himself fully at Chennai Super Kings. After two successive away defeats as Chennai return to their den for their game against Kolkata Knight Riders on Monday, Chennai badly need the free-flowing Mitchell back at his best.
With Ambati Rayudu not around, it didn’t come as a surprise to see CSK go big to acquire Mitchell. A bankable middle-order batsman, at the 50-over World Cup, the 32-year-old showed his power-hitting prowess against spinners. Playing mostly straight, he took attacks apart with his clean, crisp hitting. For a batsman, who grew up facing not many spinners in New Zealand, it is fascinating how his batting against the tweakers has evolved in the last three years. “I’m 6’3″ and 100 kg, so it’s about making sure I use my size, my base and finding ways to put pressure back on the spinners in my own way. We’ve got a guy called Kane Williamson who’s a pretty good player against spin and I’ve learnt a lot from him.” Mitchell said.
Son of John Mitchell, a renowned Rugby coach, who was in charge of All Backs as well, cricket has been his love ever since he picked up the bat which was presented to him as a souvenir during his time at Perth, where Mitchell Sr was coaching the Western Force rugby team. During his time in Australia, he was a teammate with Marcus Stoinis and Justin Langer in club circuit.
Chennai: Chennai Super Kings’ batter Daryl Mitchell plays a shot during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 T20 cricket match between Chennai Super Kings and Gujarat Titans, at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, Tuesday, March 26, 2024. (PTI Photo/R Senthilkumar)
“It was obviously really cool to experience different sporting environments as a kid. But, at the same time, it was just dad going off to work, and sometimes I was a naughty boy and sometimes I was good. I’ve always loved cricket. Cricket was always my passion growing up. I was a typical Kiwi boy who played rugby in the winter and cricket in the summer. But cricket was always what I’d be doing in the backyard as much as I could,” Mitchell said.
So far in this IPL, batting in the middle-order, Mitchell has tallied only 93 runs and has struggled to find the flow, often coming across as a batsman who is trying too hard. In four innings, he has batted at No 4, 5 and 6, which hasn’t helped his case to settle down either. But, after all, Mitchell has always been a late bloomer.
“I guess that’s the cool thing about batting in the middle order. It’s never the same. Each innings is always different and that’s something I pride myself on. I can adapt to different situations and work out ways to keep extending partnerships and also put pressure back on the bowlers. Here at CSK, it’s doing that sort of No 4-5 role and managing the middle and getting us positioned to allow the big boys at the end to try and launch it. I’m loving doing different jobs for the team, and it’s good fun,” Mitchell said.
While he has definitely had a bit of fun in the middle, Chennai need that to last longer. With MS Dhoni still preferring to bat down the order, and Ravindra Jadeja’s limitations as a T20 batsman, it is Mitchell that CSK look up to for providing the impetus in the middle-order. Unlike Ajinkya Rahane and Shivam Dube, who feed off their strengths and weaknesses against pacers and spinners, Mitchell has the game to take down pacers as well as spinners. Against Kolkata, who have an army of spinners, Mitchell’s match-ups against Sunil Narine, Varun Chakravarthy and Suyash Sharma would come in handy.
“It’s just trying to be as present as you can be, in that moment and working out what their threats are to you as a batsman, trying to find ways to put pressure back on them. That’s the nature of the game that we play; sometimes it can look ugly, but you get the runs and get the job done and other times it looks beautiful. It’s just working out what the surface is doing, what the bowlers are trying to do here. I’ll keep trying to find ways to put pressure back on them as well,” Mitchell said.
Mustafizur to join CSK
Bangladesh seamer Mustafizur Rahman, who missed Chennai’s last match against Sunrisers Hyderabad, will link-up with the franchise on Sunday night. The seamer, had to leave for Dhaka to apply for US visa for the upcoming T20 World Cup. Similarly, CSK will also take a call on Matheesha Pathirana’s availability on Monday based on a fitness test. He too missed the last game because of a niggle.
Source:indianexpress.com