Daniel Vettori is one of the greatest players to have represented New Zealand cricket. He is celebrating his 42nd birthday on January 27, 2022. During his playing days, Vettori was highly respected for his humility and style of play. A slow left-arm orthodox bowler, known not for prodigious turns but for his variation in accuracy and pace, which brought him great success in a career spanning over 18 years.
Vettori was born in Auckland in 1979 to an Italian-born father and a Kiwi mother. He has the distinction of being the first cricketer of Italian origin to don the colors of New Zealand. He is also one of the few cricketers who play with glasses, especially in the modern era. At the same time, due to playing cricket wearing glasses and different hairstyle, he is called the Harry Potter of cricket.
As he celebrates his 42nd birthday, we take a look at some highlights of his cricketing career.
made his cricket debut at the age of 18
Vettori made his Test debut for New Zealand against England in Wellington in February 1997 at the age of 18, making him the youngest player to represent the country. It was not a happy start for Vettori as his team lost by an innings and 8 runs. He took 2 for 98 in 34.3 overs in the only innings bowled by the Kiwis. Nasser Hussain became Vettori’s first victim in international cricket.
Two months later, he made his ODI debut against Sri Lanka in Christchurch. Again, they did not taste victory as the visitors suffered a 6-wicket defeat. Despite the defeat, there was a hero who took New Zealand cricket to new heights. The world had seen in him the ability to not give too many runs and take wickets with consistency.
Troubled bowlers with their accuracy
Turning the ball in a cunning manner was not his quality, he relied more on accuracy. Other successful spinners like Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan were famous for troubling batsmen with their turning balls, but Vettori was more in the league of Anil Kumble, who didn’t bowl too many deliveries.
Without Bari, there were many variations in his arsenal. He had a good approach at the crease with very quick action. The greatest variation was in his trajectory which sometimes deceived the batsmen in flight and at other times dodged them with a sharp arm ball. Leg before wicket was his most useful method of taking wickets which is due to his impressive accuracy.
Second Kiwi bowler to take 300 Test wickets
Vettori made many records while playing for nearly two decades. He is the second highest wicket-taker in Test cricket for New Zealand after Sir Richard Hadlee with 362 wickets. In ODI cricket, he is in pole position in terms of wickets for his country with 305 wickets. Overall, he is the all-time highest wicket-taker for the Kiwis with 705 wickets across all formats and 22 five-wicket hauls.
He is also the most capped cricketer for the Kiwis in Tests as well as ODIs with 113 and 295 matches respectively. The numbers show that he is the most successful left-arm spinner to have played the game of cricket. Daniel Vettori is the first Kiwi bowler to set a record by taking 100 wickets at the age of 21.
did wonders in batting too
Initially, he was a spinner who could bat a bit but in later years he did well in the batting department as well. He became a stubborn batsman who cost his wicket. He scored 4531 runs in 174 Test innings at an average of 30.01 which improved in the latter part of his career. He also has 6 centuries and 23 half-centuries to his name, which is a tremendous record for someone batting down the order.
At a time when the New Zealand team was going through a transition, Vettori had become a top batsman and carried himself up the order several times. He is the eighth player in Test history to have scored a double of 300 wickets and 3000 runs in Tests. He has also scored 2253 runs in ODIs with 4 fifties in his record.
New Zealand captain in 2007
When Stephen Fleming stepped down as the captain of the New Zealand team after the 2007 ODI World Cup, Vettori was given the responsibility of leading the team and became the captain in all three formats. He led the team in the inaugural T20 World Cup in South Africa in 2007.
He was also the captain of the team in the 2011 ODI World Cup held in the subcontinent. He resigned as captain after the tournament and announced his retirement from ODIs and T20s. He was recalled again in the 2013 Champions Trophy and went on to play until the 2015 ODI World Cup. He eventually retired from international cricket after the final match of the tournament in which New Zealand lost to Australia.
After retirement, he is still associated with the sport in the role of a coach. He has coached teams like Royal Challengers Bangalore, Brisbane Heat and Middlesex.