IPL 2018: Have the King XI Punjab fallen out of love with David Miller?
David Miller has been a regular part of the Kings XI Punjab over the past few seasons. This has been the only franchise which he has played for in the IPL since he made his debut at the tournament, but it seems as though the Kings XI Punjab are falling out of love with the big-hitting batsman.
Miller was one of the star attractions for the Kings XI Punjab over the years but it seems as if though things have changed. Fans have seen so little of the destructive batsman during this season's IPL that they would have been forgiven for thinking that he was not taking part in this year's tournament.
He has only played in two matches thus far in this year's tournament and it seems that the Kings XI Punjab are happy with their current squad - one which he doesn't seem to fit into. He hasn't made any significant contributions and it looks likely that this season will be his final one.
Many people would have been expecting him to play in the match against the Royal Challengers Bangalore but he was left out of this match. The match against the Mumbai Indians was another chance for Miller to be selected but Yuvraj Singh was given the nod instead.
Of course, things might change as we approach the business end of the tournament. Miller is an immense talent and a few big innings could be just what he needs to fall back in favor with his franchise. In order for this to happen, he first needs to make it into the starting XI and this is currently a problem which he faces.
The Kings XI Punjab's hopes of making it to the playoffs are hanging by a thread at the moment. The franchise has been over-reliant on Gayle and Rahul scoring big runs at the top of the order and this is a weakness which has begun to show. The rest of their batsmen have been struggling to score any sort of runs and has left them with a middle-order who struggle to chase down targets.
Miller could easily become the hero in this. A huge match-winning innings in the King XI Punjab's next match might just be what the South African batsman needs to find his way back into favor
with his franchise.
For the moment though, it looks unlikely that Miller can expect the Kings XI Punjab to give him a chance to do this and this season might signal the end of their association.