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.

... contd.