Daniel Vettori, Nonchalant and Workmanlike, New Zealand's Man for Every Season
Daniel Vettori announced retirement from all forms of cricket. Vettori finished his career with 305 wickets in 295 ODIs and 362 in 113 Tests.
West Indies were chasing a mammoth 394 against New Zealand. With 80 on the board in only the ninth over, they were chasing it well. Chris Gayle looked in ominous touch while Marlon Samuels was getting into his stride.
Trent Boult ran up to bowl the tenth. The first ball was short and outside the off-stump. Samuels cleared his front leg and slashed at it. The ball missed the middle of his bat, caught the edge and sailed towards the third-man boundary. (Vettori Announces Retirement)
What happened next was the real definition of the word 'cool'.
A 36-year-old bearded man leapt a couple of feet in the air, stretched his left hand and plucked the ball out of thin air to complete, what Bill Lawry would call an 'absolute ripper'. He flicked the ball nonchalantly back to the umpires as his entire team went jumped on him to celebrate. (Five Overs That Cost New Zealand the Chance of Glory)
Daniel Vettori was all about nonchalance.
David Warner was wielding his willow like a sledgehammer. Tim Southee, one of the prime pacers of the tournament, was under serious tap and was vanishing all over Eden Park. With Australia rampaging along at 51 for 1 in six overs, Brendon McCullum turned to the most experienced spinner in his side. (New Zealand Accept Defeat, Proud of Team's Efforts)
With a slip and a leg-slip in place, Vettori bowled five dot ball to the dashing opening batsman from Australia. He conceded just two in that over and then went on to bowl out his 10 overs in an unbroken spell. There was nothing flash about the spell but it was dipped in cricketing acumen. Just like a surgeon, he went about his job with perfect precision.
He not only stifled the Aussies with his accurate left-arm spin, he also carved out two wickets and at the end of his spell, Australia were reeling at 124 for nine.
Doctor Dan was all about delivering when it matters.
Vettori came on to bowl in the third over against Afghanistan in the third over at Napier. It was move to switch ends for Boult. The bespectacled spinner jogged up to the crease, leapt, delivered and slid the ball through the batsman's defences. (Haddin Defends Sledging the 'Nice' Black Caps)
McCullum didn't turn to him till the powerplay.
First ball of the powerplay. Again, the same drill -- jog up, leap, deliver. The batsman saw his off stump pegged back and Vettori became the first Kiwi bowler to 300 wickets in one-dayers. McCullum rushed to congratulate him but the veteran war horse offered him an understated hi-five.
Vettori wasn't a Bishan Singh Bedi. Vettori wasn't a Derek Underwood. He didn't lure batsman into making mistakes. He couldn't bamboozle batsmen with his variety either. He didn't have any mystery balls in his repertoire, neither did he wear full sleeve shirts to cover any hyper-extension of the arm.
He wore full sleeve shirts to beat the cold. Simple.
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Vettori was one of the very few cricketers who became a modern day great by keeping it simple. He used ancient weaponry to outfox batsmen. He depended on factors like flight, dip, variation of pace and depth of the crease.
In times when 350 is a par score and spinners are taken to the gallows in every game, Vettori ended up with the most economical spell of the World Cup. His figures 10-4-18-4.
Daniel Vettori was all about keeping it simple.
Michael Clarke, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shahid Afridi and now, Daniel Vettori - The 2015 World Cup saw stalwarts draw curtains on their glowing one day international careers.
While Clarke managed a fairy-tale ending, the rest hung up their boots amidst heartbreaks.
Vettori has played five World Cups but has never managed to win any. He lost twice in the semis in 2007 and 2011 and in 2015, he missed the World Cup by a whisker.
After making his ODI debut in 1997 at the age of 18, Vettori went on to become the most capped Kiwi player. Over the years, he emerged as New Zealand's leading wicket-taker in ODIs with 305 scalps.
The youngest man to play Test cricket for New Zealand, Vettori in his 113 Test appearances, claimed 362 wickets and is only the third cricketer after Kapil Dev and Ian Botham to take more than 300 wickets and score 4,000 runs.
He could have easily gone past Sir Richard Hadlee's tally of 431 Test scalps had injuries not played such a major role in his career.
Playing in an underachieving team is a curse for any sportsman. Vettori did that for eighteen long years. New Zealand were always a good side but never possessed the fire power to outclass the best. Vettori was the class player they always aspired for and Dan was their man for every season.
Vettori never complained, he just jogged up, leapt and delivered.
The 2015 World Cup finally, saw the Kiwis come out of their slumber and break their semifinal jinx. Under McCullum, they were like men on a mission.
Perhaps they wanted to do it for Dan.
They tried hard. They couldn't. But Vettori isn't complaining. He is just thankful that he could feature in five World Cups for the Black Caps.
The word 'respect' is overused and abused in cricket.
Daniel Vettori is all about respect.