Delhi Capitals fans’ hearts skipped a beat several times during their Indian Premier League (IPL) game against Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday.
Needing 15 off the last over to win, when David Miller failed to dispatch a bad ball down leg by Romario Shepherd, bad memories from the Gujarat Titans encounter started to rush back, where Miller couldn’t make two runs off two balls, and DC lost the game by 1 run.
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Single off the first ball by Shepherd brought fellow South African Tristan Stubbs to the strike, and guess what? He also failed to get a much-needed boundary. Single again. The way Delhi had lost their last two matches against Chennai Super Kings and Gujarat Titans, not many would have put their money on them to get 13 runs off four balls, but then Miller turned the clock back and hit back-to-back sixes either side of the wicket before finishing the match in style with a four on the leg side.
He has redeemed himself to some extent, but not entirely. Why? You see, IPL is a very competitive league, and not losing the momentum is very important. After winning their first two games against Lucknow Super Giants and Mumbai Indians, the Delhi-based franchise was riding high.
Then they lost to Gujarat Titans, a match they should have won, and the aftereffects of that loss were visible in the match against Chennai Super Kings where they were all over the place in all departments. From looking like a solid team, within days, they started looking like an ordinary team.
That is why Miller’s failure against GT was terrible — without denying that he is a great white-ball batsman. He has extraordinary talent and so much experience to boot, but considering the franchise has never won the Indian Premier League, he has extra pressure to deal with. That’s how it is. Nobody, in their wildest stretch of imagination, would have thought on that day that Miller would fail to score two off two.
IPL is not for the faint-hearted!
Fans’ expectations at Delhi Capitals are really high, and most would sympathise with Miller. But then Miller is no ordinary player. He has the wherewithal to deal with everything that the opposition may throw at him. But he has the tendency to go off at times, just like he did for South Africa in the T20 World Cup final in 2024, and he needs to address that.
IPL is the best T20 league in the world, and it takes care of its cricketers very well, particularly foreign players. They are paid a lot of money and showered a lot of love, and expectations are exactly in proportion to that. This holds true for all teams, but there is extra pressure at franchises that have not done particularly well in the IPL. Delhi is one of them.
So while Miller deserves a lot of credit for finishing the match, he has to keep this momentum going. Another lapse in mental fortitude from him will probably be the end of Delhi Capitals’ IPL 2026 campaign.
What Miller said after the match will tell you he was bothered, too, all this while. “Feels really good. After that game the other night, it was a disappointing game, but to get it done today feels good. It’s always going to be at the back of the mind till you win another game. Mentally just trying to stay in the moment and do what I can. They bowled six yorkers to me, and I couldn’t really get going, but I’m chuffed that it came off in the last over.”