“Impressed by how good a batsman he is…”: CSK’s Daryl Mitchell on skipper Ruturaj

Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India]: Ahead of his team’s clash against the Delhi Capitals (DC) in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and New Zealand all-rounder Daryl Mitchell lauded skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad for his calmness and batting prowess and opened up on his role and challenges as a middle-order batter.

CSK, who have started their IPL 2024 campaigns with two thumping wins, will be taking on DC at Visakhapatnam. The Blue team will be aiming to overcome the heartbreak of two close losses and will be looking forward to getting their first win.

Mitchell has played both games so far, scoring 46 runs at an average of 46, with the best score of 24. He has also taken a wicket.

Speaking to the media ahead of the game, Mitchell said about the team’s new skipper, Gaikwad, as quoted by CSK’s website, “I have watched him from afar for a number of years now. And I have been seriously impressed, first of all how good a batsman he is. I think he is world class, and I am sure he will play a lot more for India in the future. And as a captain, it has been really cool to see how calm and collected he is. And yeah, I am sure he is going to have an amazing future with CSK as captain.”

On playing his role as a middle-order batter, Mitchell said that each inning is different and he is proud of the fact that he can adapt as per different situations, create pressure on bowlers with partnerships.
“We know here at our home ground that it can be slow at times and I think we even saw in that second game there that the wicket got slower, as the ball got older as well. So it was cool to see the boys at the top make the most of that new ball and set the platform,” he added.

The all-rounder does not worry about batting at different positions since he is a “competitor at heart.”
“That is what drives me. So, whatever role I have got to play for the team to help us try and win games of cricket, I will do that. Whether it is opening, batting at number three, four, five or six,. It is just being present out in the middle and keeping communicating with the guy down the other end. And working out how we are going to go about doing the job,” he added.

Talking about how he has developed his game against spin over the years, Mitchell said that wickets in Kiwis are not very helpful to spinners and being a late bloomer in cricket helped him develop his game against spin. He also said that he has learned a lot about tackling spinners from Kiwi skipper Kane Williamson.

“I am six foot three, I am 100 kgs. So it is making sure I use my size and my base and finding ways to put pressure back on the spinners in my own way. And also learning off other players around the world. We have obviously got a guy called Kane Williamson in our team back home,” said Mitchell.

“He is a pretty good player of spin and I have learned a lot of him, but I also watch other players all around the world to see how they go about different conditions, and you are trying to adapt that to your game,” he added.

Talking about being picked by CSK in the auction last year for Rs 14 crores, the all-rounder said that it was special for him to be picked up by the Yellow Army, which has some of his teammates like Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner and Devon Conway as well.

“It has been a great environment to be a part of. And I guess the cool thing is, the first two wins, everyone has done their job as a team, and we will just keep the train rolling,” he added.
On living up to his massive prize tag, Mitchell said that due to the fact that he spent so much time in domestic cricket and was a late comer at international, it is a validation of his hard work in a way. But he also loves to compete.

“I love competing. That’s what drives me – getting stuck into whatever job I have got to do to help us win games of cricket. And, here at CSK, it’s doing that sort of number four or number five role and managing the middle and getting us into positions 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 is good fun,” he concluded.

Delhi Capitals Squad: David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Ricky Bhui, Rishabh Pant(w/c), Tristan Stubbs, Axar Patel, Sumit Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Anrich Nortje, Khaleel Ahmed, Mukesh Kumar, Abishek Porel, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Praveen Dubey, Kumar Kushagra, Rasikh Dar Salam, Ishant Sharma, Jhye Richardson, Shai Hope, Prithvi Shaw, Lalit Yadav, Yash Dhull, Vicky Ostwal, Swastik Chikara

Chennai Super Kings Squad: Ruturaj Gaikwad(c), Rachin Ravindra, Ajinkya Rahane, Daryl Mitchell, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Sameer Rizvi, MS Dhoni(w), Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande, Mustafizur Rahman, Matheesha Pathirana, Shardul Thakur, Shaik Rasheed, Nishant Sindhu, Mitchell Santner, Maheesh Theekshana, Moeen Ali, Devon Conway, Ajay Jadav Mandal, Prashant Solanki, Mukesh Choudhary, Simarjeet Singh, RS Hangargekar, Aravelly Avanish.