Delhi Capitals’ David Miller and Kuldeep Yadav after losing by one run to Gujarat Titans. (Image credit: IPL)
New Delhi: “What was he thinking?” “What was he doing?” “Why didn’t he run?” These were some of the questions asked in the wake of Delhi Capitals’ one-run loss to Gujarat Titans in the ongoing IPL 2026.The “he” in question is David Miller. The South African batsman had a fantastic experience at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Wednesday.Go beyond boundaries with our YouTube channel. Subscribe now!Firstly, while playing, he sustained an injury to his right hand when he dived on the practice pitches to stop Sai Sudharshan’s cover drive.After trying to get rid of that, he came to bat but the effects of that became very clear after just 10 balls in the 211-run chase. The blow was already compounded when he dived to the crease.At that point, DC were 130/3 and needed 81 off 42 balls with KL Rahul putting on well on 69 off 37 balls. When Miller reappeared, DC had just lost Tristan Stubbs to a run out and the equation on the scoreboard read: 51 required off 20 balls. Three balls later, Rahul lobbed a shot from outside off Mohammad Siraj and keeper Jos Buttler lobbed it easily on the inside edge.The weight and weight of responsibility had suddenly shifted onto the battered and bruised 36-year-old Miller.
He added just 6 off 3 balls when his innings resumed as the required average rose to 18.00. And here the game turned.Miller hit 6, 4 and 6 off Mohamed Siraj, with conceding 23 runs in the penultimate over to round out the equation. It also helped penalize GT for a slow overtaking rate, forcing an extra player back onto the circuit.13 required from 6 became 8 from 3 balls when Miller got his chance in the final over. Next ball, Prasidh Krishna came around the wicket, bowled at the bow and was duly punished with the resulting six down the third rung of the pitch. A massive 106 meter long strike!Then came the moment that baffled everyone and would be discussed for weeks on end.
A pull shot headed towards deep square leg and Miller dismissed a single with DC needing two off two balls. Had they completed that safe run, Kuldeep Yadav would have been asked to wrap things up or at least force a Super Over.Instead, when Prasidh put in a clever last-ditch effort under pressure, DC were unable to add to their tally and were instead caught just wide.Finishing without finishingA few days ago, while Punjab Kings were chasing 210 runs against Chennai Super Kings in Chepauk, CSK head coach Stephen Fleming claimed that there was no place for the finish in T20 anymore.He said: “Look, I don’t think there’s such a thing as finishing off the ball anymore. That’s right from the first ball, everyone is leading with the strike rate. It’s not about ‘build to the 16th over and then go stronger’. Everyone is doing their best from the first ball. So the 10, 11, 12 run rates all the way through are what you expect, and you don’t really get the big peaks at the end.”The pursuit of the capital, although unsuccessful, disproved this theory. If Delhi Capitals have scored 10.5 runs in the powerplay and 8.77 in the middle overs, they have upped the ante to 13.40 in the last five overs.
The 16th over went for 16 runs and Siraj’s 19th over produced 23 runs – a joint high of the night.Back to the question about Miller’s decision not to run, no one had a proper answer. Jill believes they have a “chance to win.” DC Commander Axar Patel said things could have gone either way. “I think in that kind of close match, you can, you know, point to anything. So I think, yeah, we played a pretty good game of cricket. Like I said before, in a close chase, in a close match, you can point to a lot of things.”
But I think in the chase, I think we could have played smarter,” Axar said.DC opener Pathum Nissanka didn’t reveal much when he said, “We haven’t discussed this yet, but sometimes it happens in cricket,” in the post-match press conference.
Rashid Khan
The player of the match was very happy that he was not in Miller’s shoes at that moment.What was going on in Miller’s head could only be explained by him. One can only hazard a guess from the outside. But from within, the capital will regret wasting this golden opportunity.
