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Daniel Vettori - The Wizard of Left Arm Spin |
- Karthik Narayan
 He
looks your average studious University student,
and yet, he has studied this game of cricket and
has mastered the art of Left Arm Spin unlike no
other in the modern history of Cricket clocking
back in the last decade. The person I am
referring to is the pleasant looking Daniel Luca
Vettori of New Zealand.
He came into the New
Zealand ranks as the youngest to appear for New
Zealand in a test at 18 years. He may be the
image of a Harry Potter past his teens, with
modern day glasses. He is in that mould,
exercising the expertise of modern day
spin-wizardry with the finest of ease like the
man.
Left arm spinners are a very rare sight these
days except for Ashley Giles, Murali Karthik and
Rangana Herath. With the advent of more ODIs,
one would find that part timers like Sanath
Jayasuriya, Darren Lehmann and Michael Clarke
are quite effective. Gone are the days where the
left arm spinners ruled the game of cricket with
their magic. Bishen Bedi was the finest exponent
of that Magic. But Vettori is the classical left
arm spinner reviving that art, making waves with
his wizardry keeping that elite clan of spinners
alive.
Vettori is the featherweight cricketer doing the
heavyweight wizardry of spin bowling. He has a
classy left arm action and a wonderful release
of the fingers, which has bamboozled quite a lot
of batsmen. Vettori’s true friend is the bounce
he extracts from the surface and the turn he
imparts on the ball. He over the years has
learnt to use the angles while delivering the
ball, thus working more on drawing the batsman
onto the front foot and commit to the shot.
Ever since he was introduced into the world of
cricket in Feb 1997 against England in the 2nd
test at Wellington, he has always been a
revelation, a sensational performer who never
shirks to bowl innumerable overs for NZ. Vettori
was always a handful in sub continental
conditions, where the wickets have suited his
bowling. But to be fair to this genius, he has
always played his cricket with his heart on his
sleeve, gut in his stomach and a smile on his
face. So his commitment to NZ cricket has been
tremendous.
The standout performance of his career came
about in the Trans-Tasman Trophy, played between
neighboring rivals, New Zealand and Australia.
Vettori was particularly spectacular in the
Auckland test, which had not been a great ground
for him (he was born in Auckland) until March
11, 2000. Vettori took a career best innings
haul of 7-87 following his 5-62 in the first
innings, thus reserving his best for the best.
Vettori has always done well against the world
champions as he picked up 13 wickets in 3 Tests
when New Zealand toured Australia later in 2002.
He has a high average of over 36 in Tests, and
his strike rate is also a touch too high at 83
balls per wicket. But then he is a bowler who
works and earns his wicket, with smart bowling.
It is hard work, mainly because he bowls in
conditions not quite helpful to him, and also
there were times when the Kiwis fielded
inexperienced bowlers in the absence of the
seniors like Cairns and Nash.
One has to admire his consistency though, he is
a striker with the ball very regularly, and even
with all the hard work, he wouldn’t mind putting
in that extra bit effort and bowling a full day.
But when he is going well, he comes to the party
and creates that festive atmosphere for the
entire team to enjoy. He brings that special
smile to the captain’s face, and never lets his
captain down.
Of late, his batting has come good too, after
some decent performances with the bat early on
in his career, suddenly one feels he has worked
on his batting. He is capable of surprising the
opposition. He comes in at an innocuous position
at No.9, but he not only throws the bat around,
but also plays solid sound cricketing strokes
with the style that would put even some of the
top order batsmen to shame, much was evident in
that classic patient Century he made against
Pakistan at Hamilton in January 2003. He and
Captain Fleming spanked the inexperienced
Pakistani attack for rich returns.
Amongst the Kiwis, he has the rare combination
of a hundred wickets and scoring more than 1000
test runs, making him an all rounder of sorts.
He has always been more than just a useful
batsman coming in at No.9. He has 7 fifties and
one test century to his credit.
ODIs are always thought as “made for the
batsman”, simply because it favors the batsmen
more. Vettori arrived in 1996-97 at Christchurch
as a rare left arm spinner around the circuit.
He was taken for plenty of runs in that game,
making it a forgetful experience. But Vettori
soon adapted and was very successful in the slow
turning tracks of Sri Lanka in 2003 in the Bank
Alfalah Cup featuring Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
His bowling was very tight, squeezing the runs
as well as picking up wickets.
He has ushered in the era, where the art of left
arm spin is taking shape again. He gives the
ball a lot of air, teasing the batsman most of
the times. His best bowling and first
five-wicket haul in ODIs came in England at the
home of Cricket, Lord’s in 2004. His best
figures up to date have been 5/30 against West
Indies in the finals of the Natwest Trophy which
was eventually won by the Kiwis thanks to this
left arm wonder.
And even as I festschriften about this young
bloke, in Bangladesh, Vettori is breezing
through dozens of new wickets, and on to
cornering and conquering more batsmen. We at
Cricketfundas.com wish this magician to cast
more spells on us with his expertise, and
enlighten the game in the fittest and finest
way.
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