'Literally 10 days before the IPL, I got a call from the franchise' - David Miller recalls being picked by KXIP in 2011

David Miller has been the part of the Indian Premier League (IPL) since 2011. He featured for the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) until last season but poor returns in back to back editions led to the franchise finally releasing him ahead of the auction. But the left-hander has been exceptional for the KXIP featuring in as many as 79 matches amassing 1850 runs at an average of 34.26 and a strike-rate of 138.78.

However, it was Miller’s pure luck that he joined the franchise in 2011 and got a chance to rub shoulders with Adam Gilchrist who was the captain of the team then. He was in the auction ahead of the IPL 2011 only to go unsold. But an injury to multiple players in the set-up just before the tournament paved the way for the southpaw.

Miller vividly remembers the moment when he got a phone call from the franchise only 10 days before the IPL and told him about his selection. “The first year, I went into the auction and I did not get picked up, literally 10 days before the IPL, I got a call from Kings XI Punjab and they said we are selecting you and you need to come over as soon as possible, there was an injury to Stuart Broad so I packed my bags and I went to India.

“That’s where it all started, it was an incredible journey, firstly it was a just a one year deal, but then they retained me for the next two years at my base price. The first three years of mine at IPL were incredible,” David Miller said while speaking to Zimbabwe commentator Pommie Mbangwa on the Instagram live session.

I always looked up to Gilchrist and Hayden, says David Miller

It was a dream come true for David Miller to get a chance to share a dressing room with Gilchrist having grown up watching him play. Though he joined the KXIP as a replacement player in 2011, the South African only made his IPL debut in 2012. However, he is happy that he got a chance to spend time alongside some of the legends of the game.

“Adam Gilchrist was the captain at that time, growing up I always looked up to him and Matthew Hayden, I watched Australia play at 3 am in the morning, Gilchrist was captaining me, we had a lot of greats in our side, so it was a dream for me.

“In my first year, I did not get a single game at the IPL halfway through my second year, I got three games and then in my third year, Adam Gilchrist was retiring, he actually pulled his both hamstrings, I then got a game and that’s when I played my 101 run knock against RCB,” the 30-year-old further said.