'Take Him Down': How South Africa Neutralised Varun Chakravarthy

David Miller reveals South Africa's plan to attack Varun Chakravarthy with intent and trust the line after a 76-run win over India.

Scorecard

South Africa's David Miller scored a counter-attacking 63 off 35 balls in their Super 8 match agaiinst India in Ahmedabad on Sunday.

IMAGE: South Africa's David Miller scored a counter-attacking 63 off 35 balls in their Super 8 match agaiinst India in Ahmedabad on Sunday. Photograph: Amit Dave/Reuters

Shedding tentativeness and showing more intent while trusting the line were David Miller's mantra against the dangerous Varun Chakravarthy as South African batters successfully nullified India's main weapon during their 76-run victory in a T20 World Cup Super Eights fixture.

Key Points

David Miller and Dewald Brevis attacked Varun, who conceded 47 runs in four overs.
Strategy: punish bad balls, trust the line and reduce tentativeness.
Miller calls Varun 'a threat to every team' but says South Africa planned to take him on.

Chakravarthy, who has a tremendous record against South Africa before this particular game, went for 47 in four overs with both Miller and Dewald Brevis taking him to cleaners.

"I think it's just about really making sure that we were on it in terms of if he bowls a bad ball we got to put it away -- so a little bit more intent and it wasn't spinning too much tonight, so you can kind of trust the line.

"And once we felt that, then we felt, OK, we've got to take him down, because he is a threat to every team that he does play against. So it was definitely something that we did speak about," Miller, who smashed 63 off 35 balls told reporters after the game.

This was the first big knock of the tournament for the 36-year-old and was dotted with seven fours and three maximums.

Miller's Mantra: Stick To The Basics

For Miller, it was necessary to stick to his basic process which has given him success all these years.

"It's about making sure that you really stick to the simple things and the basics and do that really well. Like I said, my intent always has to be up, making sure that I have limited movements, when the ball is bowled, so I'm nice and still, my breathing, running hard, all those simple things -- it's cliche, but it really does, in the heat of battle, those are the things that I clutch to."

When he began his career more than a decade ago, Miller was dubbed the classic T20 swashbuckler, the ideal finisher who could clear the ropes at a whim.

He understands that he could have probably achieved more in all these years but he also knows that cricket's shortest and most glitzy format punishes as much as it rewards risk-takers.

Having played the game for long enough, the near-37 Miller knows that when the day comes, one needs to seize it.

"It's taken a bit of time. I've been playing the game for a while now and it's about making sure that I really do stick to, when there's high-pressured moments in front of a big audience like tonight, And then, this is a game of risks and you are going to fail as a cricketer. So it's about making sure that you playing to your terms," Miller quipped.