MILLER LOOKING FORWARD TO FACING HIS ROYALS’ MATES

David Miller captains the Paarl Royals in the Betway SA20 and plays for the Barbados Royals in the Caribbean Premier League.

But at the Indian Premier League he will go up against his employers for two-thirds of the year when he turns out for the Gujarat Titans against the Rajasthan Royals today.

“I’ve got some understanding of what they are all about,” Miller said. “I’m looking forward to it. I know a lot of the guys, and this is the joy about franchise cricket around the world: you get to build relationships with players and management along the way and build some really good friendships.”

Miller, of course, played alongside England captain and Royals premier run-getter Jos Buttler in Paarl and West Indies all-rounder Jason Holder in the Caribbean. But he was also once part of the Rajasthan Royals squad, playing two seasons for the Jaipur-based franchise.

However, limited opportunities over that period saw the powerful Proteas left-hander transfer to the Titans in the 2022 auction.

It has been an immensely favourable move for Miller. Regular game-time has led to the 33-year-old delivering exceptional performances, where he played a major role in powering the Titans to their maiden IPL championship title last season.

Ironically, the Titans defeated the Royals to claim the golden trophy.

He has continued his sublime form this season, averaging 60.09 with a strike rate of 144.00 over the past two seasons, and has performed the role of “finisher” with aplomb.

“I wouldn’t say professional sport is easy,” Miller said. “It can be very challenging and tough at times, especially in a tournament like this where there’s so many overseas [players] in one squad and if you don’t really do well in one season, you’re kind of just forgotten about.

“Outside of the IPL, I’ve done really well internationally, domestically – it’s just the IPL, where that one bad season that I had… I kind of just got written off. I knew what I was capable of. It was just a matter of getting a really good run and opportunity, so I trained really hard and tried to become a better player.

“I was really chuffed that last season went the way it did and that I had the opportunity to play throughout the whole season.”