CHENNAI: Daryl Mitchell sits down with a copper tumbler filled with filter coffee in his hand. “It wakes me up,” says the New Zealander with a smile. It’s only his second week with the franchise but he seems to have been taken in by the city. Coming into the tournament, Mitchell was considered to be one of the top signings in the mini auctions; understandably so. After all, there isn’t a box that the 32-year-old doesn’t tick. Middle-order batter? Check. Ability to hit spin? Check. Bowling seam ups when needed? Check. Gun fielder? Check. For a franchise looking to plug a hole in the middle-order, Chennai found an all-rounder to fit their side.
Three games on, the numbers may not say it — 22, 24 n.o and 34 — but Mitchell really has made a seamless transition into the side. What has helped him do that is a) there are enough familiar faces from New Zealand, b) he has had enough experience to have the clarity of his role and stick to that and c) the team environment. Ask him what his role is in the team and Mitchell breaks it down: “Here at CSK, it’s doing that sort of four or five role and managing the middle. And getting us into position to allow the big boys at the end to try and launch it. So I am loving doing different jobs for the team and it’s good fun.”
The role, while seems simple, needs specific skill sets. Top among those is playing spin, especially for someone coming from that part of the world. With the pitches in New Zealand not conducive to spin, Mitchell worked around it to find ways where he can put the pressure back on the spinners.”Um, I’m 6ft 3, I’m 100kg. So it’s making sure I use my size and my base and, and finding ways for pressure back on the spinners in my own way. And also learning off other players around the world. We’ve obviously got a guy called Kane Williamson and our team back home is a pretty good player of spin and I’ve learned a lot from him, but also watching other players all around the world to see how they go about different conditions, and you’re trying to adapt that to your game.”
It explains how Mitchell’s strength lies in taking down spinners down the ground rather than hitting them through square on both sides. Even during the World Cup, the Kiwi kept hitting Kuldeep Yadav into the sight screen. Trying to stay in the present is a phrase that he keeps coming back to. “Sometimes It can look ugly, but you get the runs and get the job done and other times it looks beautiful. So, it’s just working out. What’s the surface doing? What are the bowlers trying to do here to dot me up, or get me out and I’ll keep trying to find ways to put pressure back on them as well,” he said.
Everywhere he goes, the one aspect that keeps making its way into the conversation is him being a late bloomer, biding his time in the domestic circuit before eventually getting a chance with the Black Caps. Mitchell, like his batting, keeps it simple. He keeps referring to the competitor in him and how all the years of grind has helped him become a finished product. “I guess you could say it’s a blessing that it allowed me to learn my game at the domestic level for a period of time and work out not only the cricketer that I want to be and how I want to play, but also the sort of person I want to be off the field. And I think that’s again a real blessing to be able to do that. And I love competing. That’s what drives me; getting stuck into whatever job I’ve got to do to help us try to win games,” he signed off.