Paarl Royals appoint David as captain for inaugural SA20 league

PAARL: Royals Sports Group-owned Paarl Royals on Sunday announced the appointment of experienced South African batter, David Miller, as Captain for the inaugural edition of Cricket South Africa’s T20 league, SA20, which kickstarts in January 2023.

The Paarl-based franchise has given the captaincy role to the 33-year-old, who was one of the two South Africans signed by the team ahead of the auction. Miller, who had a stunning IPL 2022 season, helping Gujarat Titans lift the title in their first attempt, has also recently captained South Africa (in a 3-match T20I series in August against England), and the Barbados Royals in the ongoing Caribbean Premier League (CPL) season.

With a wealth of experience under his belt, scoring more than 8600 runs in close to 400 T20 matches at a strike rate of a little more than 138, Miller has been one of the most consistent finishers in the game and is visibly excited to be leading the Royals in his home country.

It makes me immensely proud to have been appointed as the captain of the Paarl Royals. To be able to call it my home, gives me great joy. The people of Paarl and the Western Cape as a whole are great supporters of quality and entertaining cricket, and my ambition will be to lead the team in the right manner and give our fans countless memories to cheer their team on. We already have some top cricketers onboard with the likes of Jos, Obed and Corbin, and I am looking forward to working with an exciting set of players to start this SA20 journey,” expressed David Miller.

Head Coach JP Duminy, who has been a former teammate of Miller’s for the national team, said, “David is one of the most passionate players you will meet, and his reading of the situations is something that will be very valuable to us. Over the last year or so, he has developed a killer instinct wherein he is finishing matches for his team – we’ve seen that in the IPL and for South Africa as well.

Hence, we are delighted to have such an experienced player as our leader, and more importantly, someone who has a calm head on his shoulders. We will be closely working with him as well as other players of the leadership group including Jos (Buttler), who himself has a wealth of experience.”

With the player auction scheduled for September 19 2022, Paarl Royals will go into it with a total of four players already secured in the form of captain David Miller, explosive star opener Jos Buttler, wily pacer Obed McCoy and effective all-rounder Corbin Bosch, all of whom have had close ties with the Royals through their partner franchises.