South Africa’s stand-in T20I captain, David Miller, is looking forward to the challenge of captaining the side in the upcoming three-match T20I series against England, starting on Wednesday (July 27) in Bristol.
The hard-hitting batter is optimistic about his team's performance against England. He is named stand-in captain after the regular skipper Temba Bavuma was ruled out due to injury.
David Miller said at a pre-series press conference: “I have captained a few times in my career so far and what I have learned is that things do get a little bit crazy and frantic out there. It’s just about having your clear plans along with staying as calm as possible.
He further added, “I’ve already done a bit of prep and hopefully will be nice and prepared for tomorrow leading into the next couple of games.”
Recently, Keshav Maharaj led the Proteas team in the ODI series that ended in a draw after the final ODI was washed out due to rain, and Miller said it was unfortunate for the tourists to have the regular skipper.
He added, “It does become quite challenging when there are injuries and stuff. But it’s part of the game and for the last year or year-and-a-half, we’ve got together a squad that we’re pretty comfortable with at the moment. So with Temba not being here, it doesn’t really help, but it does allow for us to get a closer look at other players around the country leading into the World Cup.”
Miller also admitted that England will present a tough challenge to South Africa in the T20I series, but they are ready for the challenge.
The stand-in skipper said: “The England team has come a long way in the last couple of years. They are a formidable team, Jos Buttler has played a lot under Eoin Morgan.”
He signed off by saying, “Jos has got great experience and has traveled all around the world, he plays IPL and has done extremely well on the international circuits. So I do think that they are a serious team. But to counter that, we’ve got a serious team as well. I think it’s going to be a good series.”
(With IANS Inputs)
