Batting mainstay Daryl Mitchell has credited New Zealand Cricket’s specially designed pitch marquee facility at Lincoln for helping him master spin-friendly tracks in the subcontinent, a preparation method that has paid rich dividends during his recent exploits in India.
Trailing by only one rating point to superstar batter Virat Kohli in the ICC rankings for ODI batters, Mitchell has been in red-hot form against India on their home turf.
He has registered scores of 130, 134, 84 and 131 not out in his last four outings.
The 34-year-old produced a superb 117-ball 131 not out on Wednesday to defy India and power New Zealand to a series-levelling seven-wicket win in the second ODI.
“There’s been plenty, plenty mornings in the marquee down in the South Island in Lincoln on some prepared dusty wickets to try and find ways to come up with game plans in this part of the world,” Mitchell told reporters.
“That’s the stuff that a lot of people don’t see…the work that you put in, away from the shiny lights and the TV, but it’s always nice I guess when you get the rewards from that.
“I just love playing for my country, I love travelling the world and playing international cricket and I am very lucky to do that across all three formats,” Mitchell added.
The pitch marquee facility at Lincoln helps New Zealand players recreate specific conditions ahead of any given tour and allows them to train even during the winters.
Mitchell has particularly enjoyed success in the Asian subcontinent, scoring 1,457 ODI runs at an average of 56.03, with five centuries and six fifties.
From 15 matches in India, he has amassed 801 runs at 66.75, including three hundreds and three fifties.
In Pakistan, he has scored 576 runs in 12 matches at an average of 48, with two centuries and two fifties, while he is yet to play ODIs in Sri Lanka.
“(For) us as New Zealanders, we don’t grow up on these surfaces, we grow up on bouncy, grassy wickets and the nature of playing international cricket is you have to find ways to adapt your game,” he said.
“I’m comfortable with how I want to go about my batting in these conditions, trying to find ways to put the bowlers under pressure. Whether that’s using feet, sweep (shot), using the crease, there are different ways that you try and find ways to put pressure on them (opposition),” he said.
“For me, it’s been a learning process over several years now,” Mitchell added.
Mitchell also praised KL Rahul for his valiant unbeaten 112 off 92 balls.
“I thought he balanced the innings, obviously (India) lost a couple of wickets through the middle and the way he soaked up some pressure and then got a score for them at the end, he played really well,” he said.
Mitchell laid the foundation for New Zealand’s successful chase with a 162-run partnership for the second wicket with Will Young, who scored 87.
“I love batting with Youngy, we’ve done it several times now and we have some good fun. But we also get in the contest and get pretty competitive with the opposition,” he said.
“The way Youngy played was brilliant. He soaked up the (pressure against the) new ball which looked challenging. India came seriously hard up top and bowled some good areas, got it moving and he negated that. Then he was able to find ways to keep rotating (the strike) and getting the odd boundary,” Mitchell said.
New Zealand also benefited from an off day for the Indian spinners, with Kuldeep Yadav conceding 82 runs for one wicket and struggling with his lengths.
Mitchell, however, backed the Indian spin duo to bounce back.
“Kuldeep and Jadeja are world class bowlers. They find ways to put pressure on us and they’re some of the best spinners going around,” he said.
“We were lucky enough to build partnerships and find ways to put pressure on them. I’ve also seen them tear through teams in the past,” Mitchell added.