'The best is yet to come for David Miller' - JP Duminy

Former South African all-rounder and the coach of Paarl Royals in the ongoing SA20 T20 League, JP Duminy feels that the ‘best is yet to come’ for the Proteas batter David Miller in both franchise cricket and in the international circuit. Miller is the captain of the Paarl Royals in the inaugural season of the SA20.

The 33-year-old was one of the pivotal players for Gujarat Titans, who played a key role in their victorious campaign in IPL 2022. Miller scored 481 runs across 16 matches in the last season averaging 68.71 at a strike rate of 142.73.

He was also impressive for the Proteas scoring 361 runs in the 16 T20Is averaging 60.16 with a strike rate of 164.84 and 289 runs in 12 ODIs with an average of 57.80 and the strike rate being 111.15 in the calendar year 2022.

"I just think it's the maturity that has come about for him. From the conversations that we had, there’s a leader that’s dormant in David Miller that needs to come to the fore,” said Duminy in a SA20 press conference as reported by Sportskeeda.

"I think we are seeing glimpses of that in the past 12 months where he has really taken responsibility for difficult situations and realized that he can be a match-winner by himself really. That’s why I classify him as one of the best finishers in the world. He is just 33-34 and is fit and strong. The best is yet to come for David Miller," the Royals coach further added.

Duminy was also asked about whether it was a right decision to bring the young players like Dewald Brevis, Evan Jones in the national team of South Africa, to which he replied, "It can’t be just a blanket approach where everybody gets axed. It doesn’t work like that. Importantly, you need to have a group of senior guys to help with the process. Because you can’t buy experience.”

"You need the young guys to first find their feet with the senior guys who will help them get those experiences. I am certainly excited about the names you mentioned, there’s certainly not a lack of talent in South African cricket. It’s just about nurturing it," Duminy further stated.

For a better experience: Download the CricTracker app from the IOS App Store and Google Play Store