DARYL MITCHELL WALKS THE TIGHTROPE TO EQUILIBRIUM
New Zealand and CSK batter Mitchell talks about the risk-and-reward equation that forms the foundation of his batting.
Daryl Mitchell began his international cricket career relatively late, debuting in T20IS at 27, in Tests at 28, and in ODIS at 29. Despite his delayed start, he has accumulated 4445 runs across formats for New Zealand since his debut, with only Kane Williamson (5333) and Tom Latham (4581) scoring more. Mitchell sees his late entry as a blessing, as it has allowed him to develop both as a cricketer and as a person.
“I guess playing international cricket at a little bit of a later age, you could say, is a blessing. It allowed me to learn my game at the domestic level for a period and look out not only for the cricketer that I want to be and how I want to play but also for the person I want to be off the field as well,” he said during a select media interaction.
“I just love competing. That’s what drives me — getting stuck in whatever job I’ve got to do to help us try to win games at cricket,” he added. His competitive nature stems from that of his father, John Mitchell, a former rugby player and coach. During most of his school holidays, he would spend time on the field with his father, honing his skills and catching the ball.
“There are probably things that have rubbed off on me that I probably didn’t realise as a kid growing up. I was able to experience different sporting environments as a kid,” he said, adding that eventually it was cricket, which he was most passionate about and played in the backyard.
Mitchell's performance against spin was widely discussed during the 2023 World Cup in India. He made history by becoming the first player to score two centuries against India in a single World Cup edition, with scores of 127 in Dharamsala and 134 in Mumbai. Mitchell attributes this success to his late start in international cricket, which allowed him to refine his game, utilise his physique effectively, and learn from players worldwide.
“It allowed me to take a while to get to these sorts of stages before I was able to work out how I wanted to go about things. Being a New Zealander, I guess naturally the wickets aren’t conducive to spin,” Mitchell, who hails from Hamilton, explained. “So, it’s finding ways to work out what works best for you. I’m 6 feet 3 inches and weigh 100 kg, so it’s about using my size and base to find ways to put pressure back on the spinners.
“We’ve obviously got a guy called Kane Williamson on our team back home who’s a pretty good player of spin, and I’ve learned a lot from him,” he added.
Striking spinners at over 123 and averaging 31 in T20s is one of the reasons why Chennai Super Kings (CSK) spent Rs 14 crore on him and gave him a spot in the middle order.
“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 being able to adapt to different situations and work out ways to keep trying to extend partnerships and put pressure back on the bowlers,” Mitchell said.
To him, the method of scoring runs doesn't matter— whether they look good or not
— as long as they achieve the desired outcome.
“My blueprint is pretty simple, whatever format that might be.
You just tinker with the risk vs reward aspect of the game, whether it’s Test cricket or T20. It’s making sure again that you just stick it out in the middle and just adapt to whatever format it might be.”
STRIKING SPINNERS AT OVER 123 AND AVERAGING 31 IN T20S IS ONE OF THE REASONS WHY CSK SPENT A HUGE AMOUNT ON MITCHELL