Born on June 10, 1989, one of the cleanest hitters of the cricket ball, David Miller, was born. Miller has a reputation of taking head-on with some of the monstrous hits one would ever see coming off the bat. Until recently, many felt that Miller is yet to fulfilling his full potential and has not justified his talent.
After creating ripples in domestic cricket, Miller made his T20I debut in 2010 against West Indies. Part of a low-scoring encounter, the southpaw top-scored for the Proteas with a 33-run knock before getting run out.
Two days later, he made his ODI debut and helped South Africa finish the innings with flourish. The then 20-year-old scored 23 runs from just 16 deliveries and remained unbeaten against the Caribbean side. On both debuts, he ended up on the winning side.
In 2017, Miller was not in the best of forms. He had six half-centuries from 40 ODIs but a breakthrough knock was missing. Against Bangladesh, he broke free in a T20I game. Coming in to bat early in the powerplay overs, he smashed the joint-fastest century in the format. Miller smashed nine sixes and seven fours in his unbeaten 101-run knock off just 36 deliveries.
IPL career
In 2012, he made his IPL debut for Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings). He did not have a breakthrough season in 2012. In the next season, he became an indispensable of the Punjab-based franchise. He scored 418 runs from 12 appearances at an average of 59.71 including one century and three half-centuries. His unbeaten 101 against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) is considered one of the best IPL knocks. From there, he earned his name 'Killer Miller'.
He had another good season He had a decent subsequent season as well with 446 runs to his name from 16 games at an average of 44.60 including three half-centuries. However, his numbers started to dip from the next season. IPL 2016 turned out to be a horrible one for him. He spent a few seasons not being part of the main XI.
However, he found his form much later in 2022 season. Playing for a new franchise, Gujarat Titans, under Hardik Pandya, he excelled. The designated finisher of the side ended the season with 481 runs from 16 games at an impressive average of 68.71 including two half-centuries. His unbeaten 94 against Rajasthan Royals in the first qualifier ended up as one of the best knocks of the season.
Start of something new?
The 33-year-old Miller found self-belief after his best IPL season. The explosive batter used the experience he gained on Indian pitches against a second-string Rishabh Pant-led side. In the first of the five-T20I series, he registered an unbeaten 31-ball 64 to help South Africa chase down a mammoth total of 212/3. On his birthday eve, he lit his own fireworks and hit four fours and five sixes in his match-winning innings which earned him his eight 'Player of the match' award, the most by a South Africa player in the format.
With the way Miller has gained confidence with few consistent performances. With T20 World Cup 2022 coming up in Australia later this year, Miller will look to help South Africa get rid of the chokers tag and guide them to their first World Cup title across formats.
