South Africa limited overs Temba Bavuma feels that in-form David Miller will boost his team’s confidence going into the India-South Africa T20I series, starting June 9.
The left-handed Miller will be on national duties after carving reputation as a finisher for IPL 2022 champions Gujarat Titans and having his most prolific time with the bat in the tournament, making 481 runs in 16 matches at an average of 68.71 and strike-rate of 142.72.
“It’s obviously quite pleasing and gives us a lot of confidence to have an in-form and confident David Miller. More so, his performances in the IPL and as a team, we will be feeding off the confidence and knowledge he will bring within the team. The conversation has always been there on David going up the order and facing a lot more balls and can have the opportunity to be a lot more destructive,” said Bavuma in a virtual press conference.
Miller had one of his best Indian Premier League (IPL) season where his number of knocks guided Gujarat Titans to win the tournament.
For South Africa, Miller has mostly alternated between batting at five and six. But at Gujarat set-up, he owned the number five spot.
Bavuma indicated that giving the number five spot to Miller in South Africa’s line-up will be considered.
“He knows where he fits within our team, the role he plays within the team, which is something he’s played quite well over the last while or so. But if the opportunity is there to give David a lot more balls to face, I am sure it will be something that will be considered.
“As it stands now, I think he’s quite comfortable with the role he plays within the team.”
India’s squad: KL Rahul (c), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (vice-captain)(wk), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Hardik Pandya, Venkatesh Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh and Umran Malik.
South Africa’s squad: Temba Bavuma (c), Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Wayne Parnell, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Tristan Stubbs, Rassie van der Dussen, Marco Jansen.
