David Miller as a captain? It doesn’t fit. Laid-back surfer boy, with an engaging and charming smile, Miller is hardly the type you’d expect could “rally the troops”.
He might be seen as one of the troops, the bloke at the back who’s last in the queue and probably forgot his socks.
But Miller, now 26, reckons it’s time to grow up and not just as a cricketer.
His Indian Premier League franchise, the Kings XI Punjab, approached him at the end of last year’s competition and asked him to be their captain, once they’d decided that the affable Australian, George Bailey, was surplus to requirements.
“I did not want to miss out on an opportunity like that,” remarked Miller.
“It’s a great stepping stone in a different avenue of my career, something I’ve always wanted to do. The opportunity presented itself, and I didn’t think twice.”
Maybe not twice, but he took his time –three weeks – before giving the owners, which include the glamorous Bollywood star Preity Zinta, the affirmative.
“I feel comfortable around that environment, I know the owners, I know everyone.
“It’s not something like going into the blue with a new team and new players. That would have been quite daunting, but I know everyone, and I feel quite at home.”
A bit like AB de Villiers in Bangalore, Miller is a crowd favourite in the Punjab region, situated in India’s north.
The locals have nicknamed him “Killer Miller”.
While many players have bounced around between different franchises – even De Villiers once played for Delhi before his move to the Royal Challengers – Miller is unique, especially among the IPL’s overseas pros, in that he’s only represented the Kings XI in the competition.
Are there benefits to such a move at this time in his career?
“Definitely! I see it as a positive… there’s a lot of analysing, a lot of this and that, but it’s a great challenge for me to grow as a player, actually as a person. More as a person to be honest.”
That doesn’t mean Miller wants to lose that laid-back, easy going style.
“(Captaining the franchise) is quite in depth, but I’ll think about that closer to the time. Right now I’m pretty laid-back and a relaxed kind of guy and I’d like to keep those characteristics and have that carry over into the side, too,” Miller explained.
“And then it’s important to ensure the communication is very good and to get the best out of each individual on and off the field.
“I’d like to grow as a person and feed that on to the players, so as to get the best out of them on and off the field.”
While Bailey is no longer around, there is enough other experience within the squad for Miller to call on, including, Australian Mitchell Johnson and his compatriots, Shaun Marsh and Glenn Maxwell.
“I feel I’m growing as a cricketer, year in and year out. Being captain would just close off a lot of things for me,” Miller remarked.
“I didn’t want to turn down an opportunity like this, it’s such a huge stage.
“I’ve always wanted to be a leader in some form and this will be good for my game and that is regardless of whether we do well or not.”
Miller’s playing experience, especially in the T20 format, is extensive and includes stints for county teams Durham and Yorkshire.
Last week he was among the marquee names signed up for the Caribbean Premier League, where he fetched an asking price of $160000 (about R2.5m).
His captaincy experience is limited to a few matches at school and a stint as KwaZulu-Natal skipper in the Africa T20 tournament at the start of the season.
“Look, I don’t have too much experience, but I’d like to think I have enough to go with what I feel on the field.
“In 20-over cricket it goes quick, if you have a set game plan and work around that, I think it should be fine.”
Meanwhile, this new responsibility should stand Miller and the South African team in good stead at the ICC World T20 in India next month. At that event he’ll still be one of the troops, but he’ll be sure to jot down some notes so that when he’s at the front of the queue in Punjab later this year, he’ll know better how to lead.
– THE SUNDAY INDEPENDENT