David Miller will be playing for Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League (IPL 2020) beginning September 19 after eight years with Kings XI Punjab.
Miller is in awe of M S Dhoni’s finishing skills and the South African says he wants to imbibe the former India skipper’s calmness in high-pressure run chases.
“I absolutely love the way Dhoni goes about his business. Certainly his calmness – you just think he’s always under control. The way he portrays himself, that’s something he’s extremely good at and I do enjoy that about him. I try and give off the same energy,” Miller told ‘ESPNcricinfo’.
Miller is a Dhoni fan but he is not oblivious to the two-time World Cup winner’s weaknesses even though he prefers to steer clear of the specifics.
“…he’s got his strengths and weaknesses as a batsman and so do I. I tend to be in awe of some of his chases rather than ‘I want to bat like him’. I suppose I just want to finish games like he does.
“Technique-wise and the way you go about it, we all have our own ways. I don’t think I can rate myself or put myself in a category.
“We’ll see how my career unfolds and finishes and then we can look back and sort of judge. Definitely, Dhoni is one of the best finishers ever; he’s proven it many times. I love watching him play.”
Miller played only eight games for KXIP over the 2017 and 2018 seasons and last year he played 10, scoring 213 runs with a strike rate of 129.87.
What went wrong for him at KXIP in recent years?
“The last couple of years I haven’t been playing for Kings XI. I suppose that’s one of the reasons why I haven’t been winning games as well. But in terms of consistency, I feel I’m better than ever before. I’m a lot more experienced now. I know what I’m expected to do.
“In the IPL I had one bad season for Kings XI – and when I say bad season, it wasn’t as good as the previous ones that I had. It wasn’t a horrific season, to say the least.”
The 2013 edition was a path-breaking one for Miller, who smashed 418 runs with a strike rate of 164.56. In the following season, he scored 446 runs with a strike rate of 149.16. He has not been able to bat in that range ever since.
“I missed the boat the last couple of years in terms of playing and I think it’s created a thing that I’ve not been playing well. The games that I’ve played in, I have contributed,” said Miller.
