IPL Auction 2020: Why David Miller was a 'steal' for the Rajasthan Royals

The IPL auctions took place in a grand manner at Kolkata on December 19th, and the likes of Pat Cummins, Chris Morris, Glenn Maxwell, Sheldon Cottrell and Nathan Coulter Nile made it big when they went under the hammer. The franchises splashed crores of rupees for these players, with Cummins earning a record bid of ₹15.5 Crores from Kolkata Knight Riders.

However, one buy that was an absolute steal for the franchises was David Miller. The dashing South African batsman was pouched by Rajasthan Royals for his base price of ₹75 Lakh. Kings XI Punjab had released the mercurial South African batsman for the auction, and Rajasthan Royals made the best use of this opportunity.

Miller is a man who can change the dynamics of a game in a matter of overs. His ability to hit towering sixes at will, his ability to back himself and his tremendous hand eye co-ordination make him a matchwinner in his own right.

Miller now joins a team that boasts of the likes of Steve Smith, Robin Uthappa, Sanju Samson and Ben Stokes. It is a T20 line up that any bowling attack will be wary of, as each of these gladiators are batsmen who can rip apart any bowling attack on their day. And, the firepower of Miller and Stokes in the middle order will be the ideal foil to the likes of Steve Smith and Uthappa. While Smith and Uthappa can hold one end up, Miller and Stokes can indeed go all guns blazing from the other.

Miller has been in tremendous form in the T20 format in 2019. He has played 6 innings for South Africa this year, and has scored 156 runs at a whopping strike rate of 160.82. His 65* off just 29 balls at the Wanderers against Pakistan earlier this year was again a reminder of the capability of the big-hitting South African in the shortest format of the game.

After pouching him at his base price, Rajasthan Royals will definitely not be complaining. This is an absolute steal for the franchise, given what Miller is capable of with the bat. Punjab’s loss has indeed turned out to be Royals’ gain.