David Miller

David Miller player profile

A hard-hitting left-hander with a penchant for clearing the boundary, David Miller made famous the phrase "If it's in the arc, it's out the park." Miller is a self-styled finisher who is strong off the front and back foot and eager to swing his arms, as well as a gun fielder.

He made his first-class debut in 2008 at the age of at 18 and two years later, his international debut on South Africa's tour of West Indies. But it was only in 2013 that he became a regular at international level and it took another two years for him to get his first ODI century: 130 against West Indies in January 2015, followed swiftly by an unbeaten 138 two matches later, which sent him to the World Cup in good form. He made an 18-ball 49 in the semi-final that South Africa narrowly lost to New Zealand.

Miller spent even longer waiting for a milestone in T20I cricket. His first fifty in the format came in March 2016. Both speak more to lack of opportunity in limited-overs cricket, rather than lack of ability.

At the IPL, Miller was one of the mainstays of Kings XI Punjab for eight years, scoring over 350 runs in each season between 2013 and 2015 and captaining them in 2016. In 2022, he had his best IPL season, scoring 481 runs and striking at 142.72 in Gujarat Titans' title-winning campaign.

David Miller IPL factfile

- David Miller was for the longest time the face of Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings, or PBKS) after being brought in as a replacement player in IPL 2011 for US$ 100,000. He did not get a game that season but was retained by the franchise for IPL 2012 and stayed there till the end of the 2019 season.

- In 2013 he smashed an unbeaten 38-ball 101 to help Kings chase down a target of 191 against RCB. He was named captain of the franchise ahead of IPL 2016 but was removed six games into the season after the team had a poor start.

- Miller played two seasons with Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2020 and 2021 before being picked up by Gujarat Titans at the IPL 2022 mega auction.

- Miller has breached the 350-run mark four times in the IPL. The 2022 edition was his best where he scored 481 runs in 16 matches at 68.71 - a key reason behind Titans lifting the IPL trophy in their debut season.