India braced for IPL fine-tuned De Kock, Miller in SA series

That whitewash put pressure on stand-in skipper Rahul and dented his chance of succeeding Virat Kohli as captain.

Of De Kock’s 17 ODI centuries, six are against India in 16 games. He announced his arrival to the Indian cricket audience with three successive hundreds against the visiting India in December, 2013. He is yet to hit a T20 international century, but two of his five hundreds in the format have come in IPL

Playing in the subcontinent is about mastering the conditions. For preparation, nothing is better than a good IPL season. Miller didn’t go too far after IPL, enjoying a short holiday in the Maldives instead of flying home and returning.

De Kock was in Rahul’s Lucknow Super Giants team and was peerless in their last league game against Kolkata Knight Riders. They shared a record unfinished opening stand of 210 in which Rahul scored 68, but was more of a spectator with De Kock smashing 140 off 70 balls. Overall, the ‘keeper-batter aggregated 508 runs at a strike rate of 148.97.

In 6 T20Is, he averages 56.80 with a strike-rate of 144.90.

WORLD CUP TARGET

While De Kock will be a key member in South Africa’s World Cup campaign in Australia, the series is an opportunity for Miller to show he can be as important a player for the October-November tournament.

An experienced campaigner who made his international debut in 2010, Miller has played 143 ODIs and 95 T20Is. But he is yet to have the kind of impact for South Africa that he had as a finisher for IPL champions Gujarat Titans. In 16 games, he aggregated 481 runs (S/R 142.73).

Miller, having played in IPL since 2012, is well versed with Indian conditions, but he thrived in the league this time.

His most notable improvement was in the way he tackled spin. He scored 226 runs against spin at a strike rate of 98.68 between 2016 and 2021. This season, he scored 206 runs at a strike rate of 145.07. He was one of only five batters to average over 100 against spin this IPL.

“It has been a good season for me against spin. It has been something I have worked hard on. I have never really felt that I struggled against spin, but it is an area I had to improve,” Miller told a press conference ahead of the IPL final.

The big difference from the old Miller was how clean his hitting was. Earlier, he would fail to cash in on starts, often falling to a false shot. Consistently finding the sweet spot of the bat was what he sorted out before this IPL.

“I have changed my mindset against spin. It’s about making sure, especially in T20 cricket, (that) I impose myself. When there is a bad ball, I am at least in a good position to put it away for four or six. It then creates pressure on the bowler. That’s one of the things mentally I have tried to improve,” Miller said.

His IPL success is also attributed to getting to bat higher, at No 5. South Africa white-ball skipper Temba Bavuma has said he is also open to having a conversation with Miller regarding his batting position in the national T20 team.

“David has performed exceedingly well at the IPL and I’m sure that will do a world of good for his confidence and whatever feelings of insecurity that might be there. The conversations that I have had with David, he has never expressed those types of feelings to me. David is still an integral member within our team and we trust his performances will continue well into the future,” Bavuma said in Tuesday’s pre-departure press conference.

One thing is for sure, KL Rahul and the team management will spend a lot of time planning against the two left-handers.