Hardik Pandya can bring fearlessness to India T20 team as captain: David Miller

Hardik
is
seen
as
the
leader
of
the
Indian
team
at
the
2024
T20
World
Cup
with
current
skipper
Rohit
Sharma
not
expected
to
carry
on
in
the
shortest
format
for
another
two
years.
Hardik
has
been
impressive
as
Gujarat
Titans
captain
in
the
IPL
2022,
where
he
led
the
team
to
title
in
the
maiden
season
itself.

Miller,
who
has
finally
realised
his
rich
potential
and
became
one
of
the
best
finishers
in
the
game
over
the
last
couple
of
years,
said
Hardik
had
played
a
crucial
role
in
steering
Gujarat
Titans
to
the
title
on
their
IPL
debut.

“Just
playing
under
him
in
the
IPL,
I
feel
he
is
a
natural
leader,
People
follow
him.
He
allows
you
to
play
the
way
that
you
feel
like
you
can.
He
is
very
inclusive
as
a
leader,
he
wants
everyone
to
be
close
to
each
other,”
the
South
African
said.

“At
the
same
time,
he
is
clear
with
discipline.
He
has
got
a
lot
of
good
attributes
of
a
leader.

“In
IPL
he
got
better
and
better
as
the
season
progressed
and
I
see
him
doing
that
(with
the
Indian
team
as
well),”
Miller
was
quoted
as
saying
by
the
PTI
on
the
sidelines
of
Abu
Dhabi
T10
League.

India
are
in
desperate
need
for
a
change
in
mindset,
especially
in
the
powerplay.
Can
Hardik
effect
that
change
and
let
the
players
not
worry
about
fear
of
failure?

“Yes.
He
will
make
the
players
a
lot
better
in
the
mindset.
100
percent.
He
allows
the
guys
to
do
what
they
want
to
do
which
is
important,”
said
Miller,
who
was
on
Thursday
(November
24)
named
vice-captain
of
US-based
T10
franchise
Morrisville
Samp
Army.

With
so
much
cricket
taking
place
around
the
world,
a
modern
day
cricketer
like
Miller
might
not
find
time
to
reflect
on
his
past
mistakes.

However,
the
southpaw
spent
a
lot
of
time
thinking
about
South
Africa’s
sudden
elimination
from
the
T20
World
Cup
in
Australia.

Having
beaten
India
in
their
group,
South
Africa
were
looking
strong
but
an
unexpected
loss
to
the
Netherlands
ended
in
another
heartbreak
for
the
perennial
underachievers
in
international
cricket.

“Yes
I
did
(reflect
on
the
loss).
Sometimes
it
is
difficult
to
process
things
like
that.
At
end
of
the
day,
I
still
feel
we
were
one
of
the
stronger
teams
in
the
competition.

“There
were
many
other
upsets
as
well,
it
was
not
only
us.
It
comes
down
to
the
last
game
and
unfortunately
for
us,
we
needed
to
win
and
we
couldn’t.
That
is
the
beauty
and
humility
of
cricket.
Obviously
very
disappointed
with
that
result,”
he
said.

South
Africa
had
hope
against
the
Netherlands
in
the
run
chase
as
long
as
Miller
was
around
but
he
fell
to
a
stunning
catch
from
Roelof
van
de
Merwe,
who
once
played
for
the
Proteas.

“I
was
hoping
he
would
drop
it.
I
was
looking
at
the
ball
every
second
and
it
was
coming
up
and
down
in
the
air
and
he
managed
to
take
a
great
catch.
It
is
disappointing
to
finish
like
that
but
also
the
joys
of
World
Cup,”
Miller
said.

“You
see
different
teams
coming
in
and
minor
teams
competing
against
major
teams,”
said
Miller.

No
target
is
insurmountable
when
Miller
is
in
the
middle.
However,
he
has
only
built
that
reputation
in
the
last
couple
of
years,
having
made
his
international
debut
way
back
in
2010.

Miller
made
a
lot
of
mistakes
along
the
way
but
managed
to
learn
from
them,
resulting
in
remarkable
consistency.

“I
have
been
playing
for
a
long
time
now,
I
don’t
want
to
say
I
know
it
all
because
I
don’t
at
all.
Still
lots
to
learn
but
I
have
been
playing
professional
cricket
for
14
years
(including
first
class
debut).
I
have
made
a
lot
of
mistakes
in
my
life
in
my
journey
of
cricket.

“If
you
are
not
learning
from
mistakes
you
are
not
getting
better.
I
am
trying
to
implement
that
especially
in
pressure
situations.
When
the
pressure
is
there
you
are
obviously
making
more
mistakes,”
he
said.

“But
if
you
have
the
experience
of
playing
in
pressure
you
tend
to
think
a
lot
clearer
about
requirement
of
the
team
and
what
you
need
to
do
and
are
not
irrational.
The
way
I
think
and
the
confidence
that
I
have,
I
feel
I
can
finish
a
game
from
any
situation.
That
is
probably
the
reason
for
consistency,”
Miller
said.

On
the
T10
format,
he
added:
“It
is
short,
it
is
sharp,
it
is
fast
and
it
is
exciting.
You
can
play
quite
a
few
games
in
one
day.
It
is
more
exciting
than
T20
in
a
sense
that
it
is
quicker.
It
has
its
challenges
as
well
like
every
other
format.”