IND vs NZ | Daryl Mitchell’s rise: From a no-hoper against spin to world’s best ODI batsman

It’s difficult to think of any other batsman in cricket today who hits the ball in the ‘V’ -down the ground- more than Daryl Mitchell, be it spin, or pace. But back then, he was groping in the dark, lunging at the ball, trying to preempt the spinners and getting found out.

“Growing up in New Zealand and then in Perth (in Australia) I had never experienced any conditions like that. It opened my eyes. That I need to be adaptable to different scenarios; can’t play one way to another … I was a stubborn character. This is my technique, this is how I play, this is what I do,” he once told the YouTube channel ‘cricketmentoring’. “Against good spin bowlers if you are stuck on the crease you are buggered … It took me a couple of years.”

New Zealand batter Daryl Mitchell celebrating his century against India during 3rd ODI in Indore. (PHOTO: AP)

Father, an All Black

Some part of that stubbornness has perhaps come from his father, a Rugby player for All Blacks and a famous coach with England and New Zealand. Couple of low points in the coaching career of the father would prove beneficial to the son.

First in 2000, when he was part of the coaching set up of the victorious England team in the six nations league but wasn’t given his desired promotion to head coach, he returned to New Zealand. At the new school, the 9-year old Mitchell impressed the cricket coach.

“His development officer came and said ‘ I think I can make your son into a batsman’ and I went, you can do whatever you want! . And he said ‘you are coming with us, you are part of it”. Me?” His father once told the YouTube channel GoodBadRugby. “What he said was, ‘you have to give lots of repetitions of lines and stuff – be it on side or off.’

So the father went to work. A cricket net sprang up in the back lawn, and rules were coined. “The net catch in slips was out. The on-side fence has to be hit below the hip, don’t hit the house in full. Going over the fence is worth a six, but it’s minus 4 and you had to go get it off the sloppy dogs!”

He devised a contest: 15 runs to get in 12 balls. “Six fast, and six slow balls. You can imagine flying bats going into the lounge,” senior Mitchell laughs. “I have just let him discover. I have been present when I could be. His late grandfather who just passed away would. I would just pop in and let them get through good and bad days. He had find his way. He has learnt to master his craft. He has an exercise in physiology degree- he likes the mental prep side.”

The second upswing came when the New Zealand rugby team dropped the father as a coach after a semi-final exit. Soon, he took a job to coach a rugby side in Perth in Western Australia. The 12-year old Mitchell was loath to leave, but when he had one look at the new school’s cricket ground and saw it was a natural grass-filled turf, he became excited. There he became mates with Marcus Stoinis and Marcus Harris, both who went on to play for Australia, and would often run into Justin Langer and his coach Noddy Holder, who nailed the principles of batting into Mitchell.

Things went swimmingly well until India tripped him on that A tour in 2013. “Teams began to have spinners bowl at me.” He slowly started to find his way out – how not to predetermine, how to use his feet, how to allow access to the ball to get the singles going, and eventually how to hit against them. 2018-19 proved the breakthrough year for him as he started to play for New Zealand. Now, he is their No1 ODI batsman, and nearly of the world.

“One of my dreams ever since I was a little kid was to have my Test jersey up against his (father’s) All Blacks jersey when he played,” Daryl has said in the past. “So I’ve got those framed sitting up next to each other at home, which is pretty special.” And being at the summit of batting at international level can’t hurt either.