“MS Dhoni is one of the best finishers ever”: David Miller eulogizes Dhoni ahead of IPL 2020

David Miller eulogizes Dhoni: The South African batsman spoke highly of the former Indian captain’s finishing skills.

Coming on the back of a nine-year stint with Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League, South Africa batsman David Miller will play for a different franchise in Rajasthan Royals for the first time in the imminent 13th season of the tournament.

Miller, whose 1,850 runs in 79 IPL matches have come at an average and strike rate of 34.25 and 138.78 respectively, is yet to have a role-based discussion with Royals head coach Andrew McDonald despite being among the first overseas players to reach UAE.

“I haven’t had any discussion with Andrew McDonald so it’s more just preparing and hitting balls and getting back to the swing of things, as I haven’t hit balls for a good few months. It’s about getting your body going, getting the feet going. In terms of plans and roles and stuff, we’re yet to get into that,” Miller was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

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Miller, 31, considers himself as “well-prepared” for IPL 2020 which will be played on the slow surfaces of UAE. While Miller has expressed confidence about his training in the build-up to this season, his T20I career only sees him playing 17 balls across two tours against Pakistan in UAE.

“I’ve played in Dubai for some time now [preparing]. It’s certainly not like any other conditions I’ve played in before. I feel like I’m pretty well prepared.

“[I had] two to three weeks before to come and think about exactly the way I’m going to go in this year’s IPL. I’m really excited for it and I think the conditions are normally very good. It’s going to be set for a good IPL,” Miller said.

David Miller eulogizes Dhoni

Known for finishing white-ball games, Miller is no different from his counterparts when it comes to being inspired by former India and current Chennai Super Kings captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Claiming his genre of batsmen to be different from one another, Miller couldn’t resist from eulogizing about Dhoni’s finishing skills.

“I think we’re all very different in the way we think we play. I absolutely love the way [MS] Dhoni goes about his business. Certainly his calmness – you just think he’s always under control. The way he portrays himself, that’s something he’s extremely good at and I do enjoy that about him. I try and give off the same energy.

“But in terms of an actual chase, he’s got his strengths and weaknesses as a batsman and so do I. I tend to be in awe of some of his chases rather than ‘I want to bat like him’. I suppose I just want to finish games like he does. Technique-wise and the way you go about it, we all have our own ways.

“I don’t think I can rate myself or put myself in a category. We’ll see how my career unfolds and finishes and then we can look back and sort of judge. Definitely Dhoni is one of the best finishers ever; he’s proven it many times. I love watching him play,” Miller added.