IPL 2021 Auction: David Miller Has The Ability To Punish The Attack - Kumar Sangakkara Praises Rajasthan's 'Left-Handed Finisher'

Rajasthan Royals’ newly appointed Director of Cricket, Kumar Sangakkara has high hopes from David Miller and considers the South African as a crucial part of the franchise.

Sangakkara points out that Miller has just hit some good form in the T20I match against Pakistan where the left-hander smashed an unbeaten 85 off 45 balls (5 fours, 7 sixes) pulling his team out of a difficult situation.

The former Sri Lankan skipper speaks highly of the 31-year-old batsman and sees him in the role of a middle-order batsman and to finish the game strongly as they have offloaded Steve Smith and Robin Uthappa. Miller’s presence in the lowe-order could also liberate Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler to play with – more – freedom.

“Well, I think he is a fantastic player. The left-hander finisher. He has the ability to punish the attack. He had a very good innings in the last T20 against Pakistan where he brought South Africa out of the very difficult situation,” Kumar Sangakkara said in a virtual press conference on Friday.

“So he has all the weapons to become a very important batsman for us in the middle to death period. And at the same time, he is a great guy with great character and it’s wonderful to have him around in a team. So he brings a lot to us in terms of advantage,” he added.

When he gets a chance he will come good: Kumar Sangakkara

David Miller after playing from 2011 to 2018 for Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) was bought by the inaugural champions in the previous auction. But could only play a solitary game – in which he was run out for a duck – as the quartet of Joe Buttler, Steve Smith, Ben Stokes, and Jofra Archer were the first-choice overseas players for Rajasthan.

In the IPL 2021 Auction, the Royals bought the likes of Chris Morris and Mustafizur Rahman meaning that Miller could once again be benched for a long time. But, Kumar Sangakkara is confident that whenever the dynamic South African will get an opportunity he will return with satisfactory results.

“So when he does get a chance he will be able to do really good for RR. You can’t really guarantee performances, but if you follow the process the result will follow,” Sangakkara further added.

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