South Africa batting star David Miller will miss the IPL 2023 season opening fixture between Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings slated to be played on March 31 in Ahmedabad. Miller, who played a key role in GT becoming champions in their debut season last year, will instead be turning out for South Africa on that day in a rescheduled ODI match against the Netherlands.
Miller confirmed the news during a press interaction on Monday while revealed GT team management wasn’t happy with the development as he claimed it wasn’t in his control to skip the Netherlands ODI and prioritise IPL. South Africa are yet to earn a direct qualification for the 2023 ODI World Cup as only one spot remains in the top eight automatic qualifiers. The Proteas squad is yet to be announced.
They were very upset. It's always a big thing playing in Ahmedabad, especially in an opening game against Chennai. I am a bit disappointed to not be available for that, but to put on the green and gold has always been a huge privilege and honour for me. And we have got some work to do in those two games against the Netherlands, so I think having a strong team- the best squad we can pick- is definitely the way forward," Miller said in a presser. He confirmed that he will be missing one game in the Indian cash-rich league. "I will be missing one match, so, whether I'm somewhat disappointed or not, the process has taken place. We weren't given an option in any way. Be that as it may, we've got our best squad available, and we've got a lot of work to do in those two games. So it will be nice to be able to focus on that," he added. The IPL season opener will be played on March 31
