"Felt like I had let the country down" - David Miller recalls final over of IND vs SA T20 World Cup 2024 final
South African batter David Miller has opened up on the emotions he felt after Suryakumar Yadav took the decisive catch off his bat in the T20 World Cup 2024 final. The left-hander admitted to feeling like he had let the entire country down.
With 16 to get off the final over in the decider, Hardik Pandya dished out a full toss well outside off-stump. Miller belted it straight down the ground, but Suryakumar took an incredible catch at the boundary line to prevent the ball from going for a six. The Proteas, who were in a good position at one point, eventually lost by seven runs.
Speaking to ESPN Cricinfo's CricketMonthly, Miller said it was their moment to win the game and that he felt hollow at failing to complete the job. The veteran recalled not wanting to walk off the field.
"Pretty hard to explain, but yeah, I suppose anger is probably one of them. Frustration, disappointment, failure, all these negative things come into your head. I watch a lot of different sports and they always talk about the moment to win the game. And I suppose that was the moment to win the game. And it wasn't to be for me. I took it pretty hard. I felt like I had let the country down, I had let myself and my teammates down. I almost just didn't want to walk off the field."
When asked if he would have attempted any other shot, Miller stated that only the connection was the difference and that it was about the small margins.
"No, I wouldn't have, other than maybe getting a little bit better contact. I wasn't actually expecting a full toss like that. I always do have a full toss in mind, but it caught me a little off guard and I got it just slightly wrong. But it was a little breeze that was kind of coming across us, not necessarily into us, more slightly in and across. So yeah, the margins are so small. I actually thought I had enough on it."
Chasing 177 for victory, Heinrich Klaasen provided the impetus for South Africa with a 27-ball 52. Klaasen's wicket in the 17th over proved to be the turning point as India began tightening the screws.
"He can hold a bat" - David Miller on Keshav Maharaj
Keshav Maharaj took a single off the final ball of the 18th over, denying Miller the strike. The 35-year-old claimed that Maharaj is a promising batter and he hence wouldn't have changed that about the game.
"Hmm… I have played with Keshav for a long time - since I was 11 years old. He can hold a bat. In that situation, there was still a bit to do [South Africa needed 20 runs from the last two overs], so to try and hog the strike on a wicket like that, it had obviously crossed my mind, but I backed my boy Kesh. He can hold a bat and get off strike and he can hit boundaries."
When asked how Miller found the motivation to become the finisher again after the final loss, he stated that he doesn't go to extremes, regardless of the result. The veteran credited spending time with his family for helping him remain stable.
I'm quite a simple-thinking guy. I want to be objective in my thinking, try and keep my thinking quite level. I don't want to go too high or too low. It's just about taking the punches when they come and regathering."
"Fortunately I had a month off after that at home where I could spend some time with my wife. It was nice to get back to a bit of simple normality - sleep in my own bed, connect with my wife, go for walks, runs, exercise. I feel the normal things in life are probably more important than a game of cricket."
The final in Barbados was the Proteas' first in T20 World Cup history.