News – May 8, 2026, Delhi
David Miller is spending more time in the dug-out than he would like, and he is not pretending otherwise.
“Obviously it is frustrating,” he admitted on Thursday, 24 hours before Delhi Capitals host Kolkata Knight Riders in a fixture both sides must win to stay in realistic touch with the top four.
The South African left-hander, one of the most consistent finishers in the short-form game, has been overlooked for Delhi’s last two matches. Pathum Nissanka has opened, while the late-arriving Mitchell Starc has slotted into a pace attack that already includes Lungi Ngidi. With only four overseas spots available, Miller has been the odd man out.
“You always want to play every game, but such is the IPL, the structure of it with only four overseas [players in the XI], the combinations become really important for the team,” Miller said. “So I have been around. This is not my first IPL, so I kind of understand the make-up, and [it is] just really to give positive feedback to the rest of the squad, always being positive and give what I can towards the team remains really important for me.
“And then just waiting for my opportunity to come again – if it does come around for the rest of the season or not, I just want to remain ready, prepare really well, that is what us players like to do.”
Delhi’s coaching group, with Ricky Ponting front and centre, has defended the reshuffle, pointing to the extra power-play wicket-taking Starc offers. Even so, former India batter Ambati Rayudu told the league’s television broadcast on Wednesday that “DC should bring back Miller, bat Stubbs higher”, while ex-Australia captain Aaron Finch described some recent tactical calls as “head scratching”.
Miller’s IPL record – seasons of 418, 446 and 357 runs between 2013 and 2015 – still carries weight, yet 2026 has been lean: 123 runs from seven knocks, strike-rate 146.42. He has been unbeaten four times, including 41* off 20 balls against Gujarat Titans in early April, a match remembered almost as much for a single he did not take as for the boundaries he did.
That defeat is one of six suffered by Delhi in ten outings, leaving them seventh, two places behind Friday’s visitors. The maths is stark and Miller knows it.
“It is four from four – we pretty much need to win [every game] now. We have to win four from four to have a chance of qualifying, so it becomes really important,” he said.
“Yeah look, it is not easy. Obviously we do not go out there to lose a game. So we have definitely debriefed and spoken about a few things. I do not think we have been playing bad cricket at all. We have been playing really good cricket, but there are just moments in the game where we have kind of let ourselves down as a team in certain areas.
“And it is not one particular area the whole time, it is just little phases here and there. And when the opposition teams are really strong and competitive, you really have to be on your game at all stages because any team can beat anyone. Bottom of the table or top of the table, it is really competitive.”
Delhi’s batting, aside from the steady KL Rahul, the inventive Tristan Stubbs and flashes from Nissanka and teenager Sameer Rizvi, has failed to post match-winning totals. The bowlers have often been chasing the contest on dry home strips that have slowed further as summer tightens its grip on the capital.
“The pitches have been a bit different. I mean it is not impossible to play. I think we s…” Miller began, before breaking off mid-thought, half-smiling at the irony that he has not had the chance to test those surfaces lately.
If he does return, the Capitals are expected to slide Stubbs to No. 4 and push the all-rounder Axar Patel to five, lengthening the batting without sacrificing spin overs. That would leave one of the overseas quicks vulnerable, a call Ponting hinted would be decided after assessing Friday afternoon’s surface.
Knight Riders, meanwhile, have their own headaches. Shreyas Iyer’s side has lost three of the last four, and their spinners have not extracted the customary bite from Kotla’s abrasive square. With play-off hopes effectively on the line for both franchises, the contest promises intensity if not always polish.
Miller, relaxed in practice yet itching for match time, summed up Delhi’s position with the brevity of a man who has seen most IPL scenarios.
“It is four from four,” he repeated. “Nothing else to say, really.”
A straightforward equation, then. Whether Delhi trust their proven finisher to help solve it will be clear the moment the team sheet is handed in.
