Ashwin terms Daryl Mitchell a "brainy cricketer", highlights his utility as top-order batter in T20s

Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], January 19 (ANI): Former Indian cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin hailed New Zealand batter Daryl Mitchell as a "brainy cricketer" who is capable of making the best out of his limits as a player and someone who can give a franchise 400-500 runs batting at number three or four during a tournament.
Mitchell had an ODI series against India in Indian conditions to remember, as his two back-to-back centuries helped the Kiwis bounce back from the loss in the first ODI to seal the other two matches and get their first-ever ODI series win in India after first playing there in 1988. The series has essentially sealed Mitchell's reputation as another 'India bully', which stars like Steve Smith, Joe Root, Travis Head, Jesse Ryder earned across in their best formats over the years. Four of Mitchell's nine ODI tons have come against India, and his century count against India is the second-most by a Kiwi batter against Men in Blue, next to Nathan Astle (five). In three ODIs, Mitchell scored 352 runs in three matches at an average of 176.00, with two centuries and a fifty.
Speaking on Mitchell on his 'Ash ki Baat' YouTube channel, Ashwin said, "Mitchell is a brainy player who reads the situation well and plays it properly. I was with him during our time in the Rajasthan Royals. He is out-and-out not a T20 player but he can play T20 cricket. CSK picked him up for Rs 14 crores and he scored at 140 strike rate, around 300-odd runs, which is not at all bad. He is brainy, does not have a lot of power, has his limitations, but he maximises what he has. If you need someone to play at number three or four and score those 400-500 runs, Mitchell is your guy. Very underrated and brainy," he said.
In 13 matches for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in IPL 2024, Mitchell scored 318 runs at an average of 28.90, with a strike rate of over 142, with two fifties in 13 innings. However, he was unsold in the IPL auction ahead of the season this year. In 90 T20Is for NZ, he has made 1,674 runs at an average of 27.00 and a strike rate of over 138, with eight fifties in 80 innings and a best score of 72*.
Among batters with a minimum of 500 ODI runs against India, Mitchell's average is the highest one, next to Australia's George Bailey (74), South African icons Gary Kirsten (62.6) and Jacques Kallis (61.4) and Usman Khawaja of Australia (59.9).
Mitchell's tally during this series is the most runs for NZ in a three-match ODI series. Overall, Pakistan's Babar Azam (360 runs against West Indies in 2016) and Shubman Gill (360 against New Zealand in 2023) are above him.
Centuries from Daryl Mitchell (137*) and Glenn Phillips (106) took NZ to 337/8, despite three wickets from Harshit Rana and Arshdeep Singh. After being reduced to 5/2 and later 58/3, the duo put on a 219-run stand that put the Kiwis in a commanding position. In the chase, India was down at 71/4, but an entertaining 88-run stand between Virat and Nitish Kumar Reddy (53 in 57 balls, with two fours and two sixes) and a 99-run stand between Virat and Harshit Rana (52 in 43 balls, with four boundaries and four sixes) gave India hope, with Virat producing a masterclass 108-ball 124 ball to the delight of Indore crowd. However, once he was gone, it was curtains for India, who were all out for 296 in 46 overs, handing NZ the series 1-2. (ANI)