Last Updated on 3 years by Charbel Coorey
Cricket News: Why David Miller been so brilliant in IPL 2022 | A look at why David Miller has been so good in IPL 2022
Hardik Pandya has emerged as one of the calmest and most level-headed skippers in the Indian Premier League (IPL) this year. He has marshalled his troops with an innate calmness and rarely ever lost his tranquillity amidst the chaos of this high-octane competition.
However, there was an instance where even Pandya expressed his disappointment at David Miller. The southpaw had chosen to give up strike on a wide ball on the first ball of the final over of a tight chase against the Punjab Kings in the early part of this season.
It reflected a lack of confidence by Miller to carry out a job that the management trusted him to do. Pandya was clearly unhappy but it showcased that he expected more of the Protea and wanted him to repose more faith in himself.
Cut to Qualifier 1. With 16 needed off the final over, captain Pandya was off the strike. But this time around Miller didn’t think twice before launching a carnage against Prasidh Krishna. He deposited three deliveries into the stands to take his team home, quite literally!
It portrayed the significant turnaround that Miller’s season had taken. His form and more importantly the belief to get the job done has increased gradually. It is now in the same wavelength as the faith that his team has bestowed upon him.
How David Miller has turned things around in IPL 2022
For years, Miller seemed to be a shadow of his previous self in the IPL. The last time that he crossed the 350-run mark in a season was way back in his heydays in 2015. This time around, he has already scored 449 runs in 15 matches whilst playing a high-risk finishing role with aplomb for the new franchise.
There are stark differences visible in the way Miller has gone about his batting in the ongoing campaign. He has bided his time in some innings, got his eye in and not rushed to unleash his boundary-hitting prowess. Instead, he has picked his targets, gauged the game-situation well and gone for the kill at the most appropriate of moments.
The T20 game, and more so the IPL, is one of very fine margins. The victor has to emerge triumphant in these key moments. Gujarat has chartered the journey of their season in a similar way this time around and Miller has had an absolutely instrumental role to play in the same.
Incredibly, Gujarat have sealed seven chases in the 20th over in IPL 2022, easily the most by any team in IPL history. Miller has almost presented the near-perfect art of closing a T20 innings. There are very few bowling types that Miller has shown any weakness against. He has been smart enough to work his way around challenging circumstances and also showed a tremendous capability of building meaningful, match-winning partnerships in the otherwise adrenaline-fuelled nature of the IPL.
Coming in the middle, he has had to tackle multiple kinds of bowling. Several overseas middle-order bats tend to struggle against the skilful spin that is unleashed against them. But just that extra bit of patience that Miller has adopted this year has enabled him protect his wicket at the start and go berserk on the deliveries that land in his arc thereafter.
Yet, the 32-year-old has attained a fine balance in his attacking instincts. He has recorded strike rates of 144.36 and 138.91 against spinners and pacers in IPL 2022, thereby vindicating that it is difficult to restrict him with any one bowling form or style. The result? 288 runs in run chases at an average of 144.00 and strike rate of 150.78. Outstanding.
Miller proves the doubters wrong
But more than the tactics, it is perhaps the freedom and responsibility that Miller is relishing at the Gujarat Titans. He wasn’t a first-pick overseas player at Rajasthan Royals, where the left-hander spent his last couple of seasons. He was fading away from prominence during the end of his long tenure at the Punjab Kings. Teams weren’t really keen to secure him in the auction. He went for Rs 3 crore, which is arguably a middling figure considering the humungous amounts that was paid for some of the other international middle-order batsmen.
However, Miller is Gujarat’s man in the middle. He is the one whom they look up to get them over the finishing line after the fall of successive wickets. There is no other domestic or international star as accomplished or seasoned as him to do the tough task in the middle and the end overs other than him. But this responsibility hasn’t been shoved into him. Instead, Miller has been encouraged to embrace his role, get rid of that fear of failure and back his capability, time and again.
“A lot of people counted David Miller out but for us he was always a match-winner from the time we bought him at the auction. What he did today we always expected from him. But for us it was important to give him the importance, give him that love and give him the clarity as to what we expect from him. And if he fails, it’s okay; it’s just a game,” Pandya spoke of the South African in the post-match press conference after their thumping victory against the Royals.
Regardless of that, Gujarat would be hoping that Miller doesn’t fail one last time this season at Ahmedabad on Sunday.
