Miller praises Manan Vohra; asks bowlers to step up

'I think he (Manan) is starting to construct his innings really well'

'Manan is a young player and he has a lot of talent and bright future ahead of him'

Kings XI Punjab captain David Miller was full of praise for young opener Manan Vohra, whom he feels has started to focus on building his innings. Manan was adjudged Man of the Match for his 51 against Pune Supergiants and he has also contributed 30 plus scores in the first two matches for King’s XI.

"I think he (Manan) is starting to construct his innings really well. He has been off to great starts in the past also. He even did well two years ago. I think for him, it is important to keep learning and to try and contribute a bit more in the middle overs. It was good for him to have a knock like that. Manan is a young player and he has a lot of talent and bright future ahead of him," Miller said.

While he has only scored 31 runs in 3 innings, Miller feels that he will stick to his gameplan as long as he feels that it will work for him.

"If that (the one where he got out) had gone for a six, I would have continued to take them down. I will keep working hard, thinking about the right things — which I normally do and I will stick to whatever works for me," he said.

When asked whether pressure of captaincy getting to him, he replied, "There's a lot to think about when it comes to captaincy. You learn that early in the role. Like I said, going out to bat, I would like to think the same things. Do all the normal things that I normally do. I want to work hard and hopefully in the next two or three games I can come up with a match-winning innings," he said.

In T20s, the complexion of the game changes with each passing over and that is why it is important to stay in present even if a bowler gets hit in his initial overs.

"They (bowlers) just need to realise that whatever happens in the first and second over (should be forgotten)... and they should focus on the third and fourth overs. The comeback is very important.”

"Obviously, I briefed them (bowlers) that they should be ready mentally at any stage. Mohit Sharma bowled exceptionally well. Guys were really strong and they stuck to their plan and it was good through the middle over," he said.

Miller is hopeful that their win against Pune Supergiants will give their campaign the required push after back-to-back defeats against Gujarat Lions and Delhi Daredvils.

"It's a good feeling to be honest. Nice to beat a team like that. Every team is a difficult team and this is a great win for us. We hope to get some good momentum with that. It is a nice feeling for the camp to get off the mark," he said.

On the middle-order issues, he said that the opening pair has done exceptionally well in the last three games so credit to them.

"We needed 50 of 40 balls. Shaun was unlucky and I would have played that shot probably ten out of ten times.

It's just one of those things where you mishit the ball. Maxi (Maxwell) pulled off a great a innings there, nice confidence for him as well. All in all, I think the guys did really well," he said.