Sunil Gavaskar on David Miller’s decision: ‘A single might have been better option… but can’t fault his intent’
The game saw Miller’s stellar performance with the bat—he ended the night on an unbeaten 41 off just 20 balls—coming unstuck in those two balls thanks to the decision not to take a single on the fifth ball, because he didn’t fancy having Kuldeep facing the final ball
Cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar has said that David Miller should have taken a leaf out of Ravi Shastri’s book and taken a single in the penultimate ball of Delhi Capitals’ chase against the Gujarat Titans on Wednesday night. With Delhi needing two runs off the final two balls, they fell short by a run as Miller refused to take a single on the fifth ball of the 20th over before trying to sneak a bye on the final ball but seeing his partner Kuldeep Yadav get run out.
“This is where game awareness becomes crucial. It reminds me of what Ravi Shastri did in that tied Test against Australia in 1986, taking a single at the right moment to level the scores,” Sunil Gavaskar said on a post-match analysis show on JioHotstar. “In this case, in hindsight, a single (on the fifth ball) might have been the better option, especially after Kuldeep Yadav managed one earlier. But David Miller was backing himself, he had been striking the ball well and believed he could finish it. You can’t fault that intent. In the end, it also came down to execution, Prasidh Krishna bowled a superb slower bouncer at the right height, which made it difficult. These are very fine margins in pressure situations.”
The game saw Miller’s stellar performance with the bat—he ended the night on an unbeaten 41 off just 20 balls—coming unstuck in those two balls thanks to the decision not to take a single on the fifth ball, because he didn’t fancy having Kuldeep facing the final ball. After a whirlwind from KL Rahul in a chase of 211, Miller was instrumental in guiding Delhi’s chase as they needed 36 runs off the final two overs. The South African brought the equation down to two runs off two after a massive six off the fourth ball of the 20th over.
What happened in the final two balls?
That penultimate ball was stroked to fine leg, and had Miller acquiesced to take a single, Delhi would have at least levelled the scores to ensure a Super Over at worst. But Miller sent Kuldeep back and then failed to get bat on ball off the last delivery as Jos Buttler threw down the stumps when the batters tried to steal a bye.
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Cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar has said that David Miller should have taken a leaf out of Ravi Shastri’s book and taken a single in the penultimate ball of Delhi Capitals’ chase against the Gujarat Titans on Wednesday night. With Delhi needing two runs off the final two balls, they fell short by a run as Miller refused to take a single on the fifth ball of the 20th over before trying to sneak a bye on the final ball but seeing his partner Kuldeep Yadav get run out.
“This is where game awareness becomes crucial. It reminds me of what Ravi Shastri did in that tied Test against Australia in 1986, taking a single at the right moment to level the scores,” Sunil Gavaskar said on a post-match analysis show on JioHotstar. “In this case, in hindsight, a single (on the fifth ball) might have been the better option, especially after Kuldeep Yadav managed one earlier. But David Miller was backing himself, he had been striking the ball well and believed he could finish it. You can’t fault that intent. In the end, it also came down to execution, Prasidh Krishna bowled a superb slower bouncer at the right height, which made it difficult. These are very fine margins in pressure situations.”
The game saw Miller’s stellar performance with the bat—he ended the night on an unbeaten 41 off just 20 balls—coming unstuck in those two balls thanks to the decision not to take a single on the fifth ball, because he didn’t fancy having Kuldeep facing the final ball. After a whirlwind from KL Rahul in a chase of 211, Miller was instrumental in guiding Delhi’s chase as they needed 36 runs off the final two overs. The South African brought the equation down to two runs off two after a massive six off the fourth ball of the 20th over.
What happened in the final two balls?
That penultimate ball was stroked to fine leg, and had Miller acquiesced to take a single, Delhi would have at least levelled the scores to ensure a Super Over at worst. But Miller sent Kuldeep back and then failed to get bat on ball off the last delivery as Jos Buttler threw down the stumps when the batters tried to steal a bye.
