David Miller endorses the idea of keeping for South Africa

Hard-hitting South African batsman David Miller has said that he is okay with the role of donning the role of the side’s back-up wicketkeeper for the upcoming World Cup. Miller played the first T20I against Sri Lanka in Cape Town on Tuesday as the gloveman and came up with a couple of dismissals besides a powerful performance with the bat to win the game for the Proteas. He was also picked as the Man of the Match.

Though SA will go with Quinton de Kock as their main wicket-keeper in the World Cup, they have also decided to go to the tournament without a specialist back-up and Miller has been zeroed in on as that generalist back-up. The 29-year-old effected his first-ever stumping in that game against Sri Lanka and his victim was Kamindu Mendis who was the Lanka’s highest scorer.

De Kock has also been dealing with a finger injury over the past few months and could need breaks in the mega event when Miller will have a role to play. Miller also kept at different times in the final two ODIs against the Lankans but it was only in the T20I at Newlands that he kept for an entire inning and looked comfortable with the task. “I’ve prepped pretty well, to be honest,” he told the media in the post-match press conference.

‘It’s not natural things’

“It’s a new challenge that I’ve been asked to do and I’m not going to turn it down. It’s quite a relief and I’m pretty happy with how it went. It’s not a natural thing. I’ve been a keeper in the past growing up but it’s not professional cricket.” Miller was happy as he felt comfortable with the job and said the more he worked on it, the more comfortable he will feel.

The left-hander played two important knocks during the game to help the hosts win and take a lead in the series. First, he came up with a 23-ball 41 as the Proteas chased the Sri Lankan total of 134 and then after the game ended in a tie, scored 13 runs in the super over to put it beyond the Lankans’ reach.

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