Dirk, who?

The left-arm seamer, it could be said, is the first player from Holland to play in the IPL. Born to Dutch parents, the double passport-holder who played for Victoria in Australian domestic cricket, switched his allegiance after the Aussie selectors overlooked him for the World Twenty20 squad despite a series of big performances on the circuit. Nannes will turn out for The Netherlands in the 2011 World Cup — a rather unusual shift in world cricket that has seen case studies such as Graeme Hick, Kepler Wessels and Kevin Pietersen.

“Am I the first Dutch guy? Let me think about it. Hmm, yes I really am!” Nannes jokes when asked about the switch. “Look, it’s nice to be regarded a Dutch player now. I was always very Dutch — I had two passports and I always had the option of switching over. Australia was always the first option, I had grown up there and played all cricket there. But I realised that I wasn’t going to get a chance ever — there were several times when they could’ve picked me but didn’t. The Australian team is going through a transition phase, and they wouldn’t pick someone who is 32,” he says.

“For me, playing the World Cup is very important. It’s the pinnacle of the sport and any one would like the feeling of having been there. It gives me a chance to show the Australian selectors what they’ve missed,” Nannes says, without blinking.

The left-arm seamer was thrown into the eye of a storm on Thursday, when he bowled the final over with the Chennai Super Kings needing 15 to win the tournament’s only exciting match so far. Nannes kept it tight, soaking in the pressure to concede only five runs as the Daredevils won their second straight match.

In Australia, the seamer was always considered unlucky at having missed a national call-up, of any kind. He narrowly missed a spot in the Australian skiing team for the Winter Olympics in 1990, and then opted for two changes of sport, turning to cricket after a brief fling with Aussie Rules football.

Nannes spent his teens in deep snow, learnt Japanese, studied the saxophone, and planned his future running a ski-travel company. His cricket career may not be glittering, but his life makes a compelling story.

“I have a rather unusual life, don’t I? My cricket was rather unplanned, it was restricted to backyard games with my brother. I dreamed of becoming a skier and started cricket when I was 27. You wouldn’t have encountered anything like my story before,” he smiles.

Nannes was amongst the highly sought after bowlers for IPL’s second season, with four clubs looking to sign him. “Delhi was easily a choice for me because I know the coach (David Shipperd, who is also his coach at Victoria), and there’s Glenn (McGrath) as well,” he says.

Nannes says that despite his decision to shift to Holland, he will continue his stint with the Victoria Bushrangers. “It wasn’t a knee-jerk reaction. My team mates knew it for one year that I will take that decision, and they supported it,” he says.

“They knew as professional cricketers, it was all about playing at the highest level.”