South Africa talisman batter David Miller has squashed retirement reports after the World Cup final loss against India. Miller scored 21 runs off 17 balls in the summit clash before he was caught brilliantly by Suryakumar Yadav at the boundary rope on the bowling of Hardik Pandya in the final over.
Miller scored 169 runs in eight innings of the T20 World Cup 2024 at an average of 28.17 and a strike rate of 102.42 and thus played an instrumental role in taking the Proteas to the final. After the World Cup final, there have been reports that Miller is set to retire from T20Is but the left-hander has denied such claims.
Miller wrote on his Instagram story, “Contrary to some reports, I have NOT retired from T20 international cricket. I will continue to be available to play for the Proteas. The best is yet to come.”
Meanwhile, the Proteas were in a shoo-in position as they needed a run-a-ball 30 with six wickets in hand in the run-chase of 177 in the final clash.
David Miller was going strongly with Heinrich Klaasen, who had smashed Axar Patel for 24 runs in the 15th over. But Klaasen was dismissed on a slower wide delivery by Hardik Pandya on the first ball of the 17th over. Subsequently, all hopes of getting South Africa over the line rested on David Miller’s shoulders but he could not get the job done for his team.
On the other hand, South Africa had a great run in the World Cup as they remained unbeaten till the final. The Proteas were able to win some close matches throughout their campaign and also broke their World Cup semifinal hoodoo by beating Afghanistan convincingly by nine wickets.
