David Miller, one of the finest finishers of all time in world cricket, couldn’t take the Delhi Capitals over the line in their clash against the Gujarat Titans at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Wednesday, April 8.
Chasing a 211-run target, Delhi needed 13 off the final over, with Miller batting alongside Vipraj Nigam. The first four deliveries saw a four, a six, a single, and a wicket. Miller refused to take a single from the penultimate delivery when two runs were required, and Kuldeep Yadav was batting at the other end.
This move backfired for the Capitals as the South African batter missed the next delivery, and Kuldeep was run-out in an attempt to sneak in a bye, with Jos Buttler showing great composure behind the stumps. The home side fell one run short of the Titans’ total.
Former India spinner Murali Kartik said that Miller made a huge error as he should have taken the single on the fifth ball and backed Kuldeep to score one run off the last one. Kartik mentioned that Kuldeep is not a No. 11 batter and can hold his own with the bat.
“He is not a No.11 player who does not know how to bat. This is percentage cricket, if it were a No.11 player, or absolutely useless with the bat, I can understand (Miller’s decision). But Kuldeep had already taken a single, you could also have talked to him about it, and there is also pressure on the opposition because they have to bring everyone up in the circle to save the single,” Murali Kartik said on Cricbuzz.
If one run is needed off one ball, then Kuldeep can score that: Mohit Sharma
Mohit Sharma, who has represented Delhi Capitals and Gujarat Titans, said that Kuldeep could have scored the one run required off the last ball, and even if he couldn’t, the game would have been tied. The 37-year-old said that Kuldeep does not have the power to hit a six but can certainly take a single.
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“If one run is needed off one ball, then Kuldeep can score that. In that scenario, you have tied that game, you cannot lose from there. So, make that security first. If six runs were needed in two balls, then I can understand because Kuldeep does not have the power to hit a six. But with one run needed, Kudeep could have easily taken a single,” Mohit Sharma said.
“Look what has happened because of this error in judgement, it was all about just one run. If Miller had struck a four or six off the last ball, we might have said that the decision to not take a single was a good one,” he added.
