IPL 2022: David Miller Was Stellar, He Didn't Crumble But Shone Under Pressure - Aakash Chopra
Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra lavished praise on Gujarat Titans (GT) batter, David Miller, after the left-hander’s match-winning knock of 68 helped GT sail into their maiden IPL final in their first attempt.
After Jos Buttler’s 89-run knock propelled Rajasthan Royals (RR) to 188, it was left to the experienced pros of GT to handle the tricky run chase. With contributions all around, GT managed to cross the line and Miller was the protagonist with the bat as he finished the run chase in style with 3 sixes on the trot.
“Killer Miller was absolutely outstanding. He made 68 runs off just 38 balls, with three fours and five sixes. I have chosen David Miller because it was a precarious situation, when he came to bat the score was 85/3 and the tenth over was in progress. They still needed 100 runs and only 10 overs were left.”
“He also started a little slowly. Hardik Pandya was taking a little time at the other end. We anyway say that Rajasthan’s bowling is very good, so you take your time and play carefully, you feel that Ravichandran Ashwin or Yuzi (Chahal) might get you out but nothing like that happened,” Chopra said in his YouTube video.
“Everything was in the arc, it was going out of the park” – Aakash Chopra
GT was in trouble heading into the final over as they needed 16 runs from it bowled by Prasidh Krishna. Unfortunately for RR, the Karnataka pacer fumbled and ended up bowling three slot balls which disappeared into the night sky.
“David Miller was absolutely stellar, so much stellar that he told Hardik Pandya to take his time, he (Pandya) was hitting at the start, not to take tension and that he will manage everything. Everything was in the arc, it was going out of the park.”
“He was also the Player of the Match. The way he played, he didn’t crumble but shone under pressure. When you have run chases under pressure, especially qualifiers or knockout games, these are the kind of games where quality comes to the fore and that quality was seen,” he further mentioned.
