As India head coach Gautam Gambhir says, if your efforts don’t win you games, they count for nothing. Somebody should tell David Miller the same thing. Making a match of it is just not enough.
What’s the point of those sixes and the bravery of batting with an injured hand?! Sorry to say, all that counts for nothing if you, Mr Miller, don’t have the nous one needs to excel at international cricket. There is no justification for his not taking that single off the penultimate ball that would have tied the game, and even if Kuldeep Yadav had failed off the last ball in terms of getting the required single, at least Delhi Capitals would have had another chance in the Super Over.
This was the first real test for DC this season, and they failed. Their previous two matches against Lucknow Super Giants and Mumbai Indians were kind of low-scoring contests, but even in them, they threw a scare into DC fans. One shouldn’t have any hesitation to say, in light of their mindset on display on Wednesday night, that it will probably be another season where they won’t win. Why? Champion teams don’t play like that. The difference between top teams and lesser teams is that the top teams win from impossible situations, and the lesser teams lose from the position of ascendancy.
Miller has not done it for the first time. In the 2024 T20 World Cup final against India, like yesterday, he had flattered to deceive when the team really needed him. After Heinrich Klaasen’s wicket, he just couldn’t finish the game; if anything, he made the equation kind of impossible. That South Africa needed 16 off the last over was largely his doing. And then off the first ball off Hardik Pandya, he holes out to Suryakumar Yadav at long off.
Let’s not forget KL Rahul!
There are a lot of people who’ll sympathise with Miller after his brain fade yesterday. There is no need. An international cricketer should know better. But he is not the only guilty party. KL Rahul has a similar mindset, and that’s why, despite having loads of talent, his overall output has been very poor, be it in the IPL or international cricket.
That was dumb: when he first said yes to a run, but then sent Tristan Stubbs back. What is worse is that instead of making up for his faux pas with a match-winning innings, he was gone moments later. In the 2023 World Cup final, fans would remember how he had batted. The guy just can’t read match situations properly. If he had the smarts, he wouldn’t have scored 66 off 107 balls in a World Cup final.
Now Miller and KL Rahul are together as part of Delhi Capitals. God bless the franchise. Two weak-minded cricketers in the ranks as their star performers! DC fans, be ready to have another heartbreaking season. It’s a good thing that cricket is not a tainted sport anymore. Back in the day, in the 1990s, such batting performances would have set the vicious whispering machine in motion. Make no mistake.
