For two full months between February and March this year, New Zealand did most things right. Their World Cup campaign was worth cherishing, for the side was on a ruthless march until the final. The bowling attack was high on pace, swing and guile. But one man missing from that party despite being around was Mitchell McClenaghan, the joint second fastest to 50 wickets in one-day internationals.
The presence of Trent Boult, Tim Southee and Adam Milne meant the left-arm seamer got just one game, against Bangladesh, despite having a bag of 66 wickets in 34 ODIs. The lone outing was far from memorable as he conceded 68 runs in eight wicketless overs. As a result, even when Milne was forced out due to an injury, New Zealand chose to bring in Matt Henry from outside the squad despite having in their ranks a fit and hungry McClenaghan.
There was a danger of those scenes repeating in the Pepsi IPL 2015. “If Lasith Malinga happens to pick up an injury along the way we know we have a good replacement in him when required,” Ricky Ponting, the coach, had said after the auction, where McClenaghan was bought for Rs 30 lakh.
With Kieron Pollard, Lendl Simmons, Corey Anderson and Aaron Finch in the squad along with Malinga, McClenaghan was clearly down in the pecking order when it came to being among the four overseas players in the starting XI.
Mumbai had managed to pick up just 13 wickets in their first four outings, the lowest by any team this season. They lost each of those games by big margins. A campaign that had hit rock bottom was further thrown off gear when injuries to Finch and Anderson came to light. But one man’s loss is another gain, as McClenaghan proved – 14 wickets in ten outings with an economy rate of 7.87 has to be considered excellent. He’s revelled in Malinga’s company, and in many ways, his rise mirrored the upswing in Mumbai’s fortunes.
At the nets, Shane Bond, McClenaghan’s mentor and Mumbai’s bowling coach, seemed to have a clear-cut plan. While Malinga is often seen mastering his yorkers by trying to hit a shoe placed near the crease at the other end, McClenaghan’s methods were equally intriguing. With cones placed along the entire length of the pitch a couple of inches outside the off stump and leg stump, McClenaghan was asked to specifically keep bowling a middle and off line. The entire session was recorded by Dhananjay, the team’s video analyst, while Bond had a run over afterwards of how McClenaghan had gone, just like he did with each of the other bowlers.
It summed up a healthy working relationship between the two. “It’s been an easier transition, easier than I expected,” said McClenaghan after 3 for 16 in a must-win game against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Sunday (May 17). “I have worked with Shane for the last four years (at Central Districts), so I was familiar with his methods.”
There’s enough video footage by now of McClenaghan to understand he’s a line-and-length bowler. While he lacks the pace and the late swing of Boult, he more than makes up for it with his willingness to keep things tight, bend his back, and get disconcerting bounce.
Equally important to him, he says, are variations on which he has spent plenty of hours in the nets. “For New Zealand, my role is just to attack, bowl seam up, cross-seamers and try to bounce people out,” he explained. “Here what I have really enjoyed is the opportunity to show India and show Mumbai that I do have the capability of bowling different deliveries at different stages of the innings and show that I am not just a one-trick pony.”
Bounce people out, for sure. His first wicket on Sunday was that of David Warner, in the second over of the match. It seemed like a well-laid plan. A ball dug in short on the middle stump cramped Warner for room as the miscued pull landed in the hands of Pollard at point. There was thumping of the ground and the chest, and then a quiet nod to the men in the dugout. “I was bowling to the big boundary and David loves to pull,” observed the bowler. “He is a great puller of the ball, just a great striker of the ball. He had never faced me before that, so I just took a chance by bowling short. It could have gone for a six too. You need to take a chance to get guys like Davey out and thankfully it came off.”
If marks were to be awarded for training and planning, McClenaghan would be right up there. He’s proved he can deliver under crunch moments. For now, he can bask in the glory of his first Man-of-the-Match award at the IPL and gear up for what promises to be a close fight to the finishing line.
