Miller's ability to hit wide deliveries makes him dangerous: Nannes

Former Chennai Super Kings pacer Dirk Nannes felt that a promotion for David Miller up the batting order would help Gujarat Titans extract more from their top-four following the left-hander stunning knock of 94 not out off 51 balls on Sunday against CSK.

After walking in at 16/3, the South African clobbered eight boundaries and six sixes as Gujarat clinched three-wicket victory from the jaws of defeat to stay top of the table.

With Vijay Shankar repeatedly failing at No.3 and Wriddhiman Saha striking at a lower rate, Nannes opined that Miller at No.4 would give them more at the start.

"I don't think they are getting the most out of their top four. Saha does not have a great strike rate and Vijay Shankar hasn't worked well so far. May be they could move Miller to No.4? The best batters need to play the most balls," Nannes said in his review of the match.

Speaking about Miller's knock, Nannes highlighted the southpaw's ability to hit the wide delivery outside offstump over the fence.

"Extraordinary knock. What impresses me is his ability to send the wide delivery over the fence. Every team has bowled that, but against Miller it becomes very difficult for a bowling side," he said.

Helping Miller in the thrilling contest was stand-in captain Rashid Khan who smashed 40 off 21 balls, included 23 runs from Chris Jordan's 18th over. The legspinner added nine more runs to his tally in the penultimate over before leaving Miller to finish the job in the final over. 

"I thought Miller was going to run out of partners at the other end, but Rashid Khan came in. What a special innings," Nannes said.

"There were couple of game where I couldn't understand how the result came to be, but this one is right at the top."

Shivam Dube had the best opportunity to dismiss Miller in the 17th over when he ran in for a catch at long-on but pulled out at the final moment, leaving bowler Bravo and captain Ravindra Jadeja bemused.

"He was running at full speed with the floodlights in his eyes. Even if he had dived for it, it would've been incredibly difficult. We need to cut him some slack. I don't think there was anything that bad with his effort," Nannes said.

Chahar's absence hurting CSK

Nannes felt that the unavailability of Deepak Chahar, who was bought for Rs 14 Crore in the auction, for the entire season is hurting CSK as he sympathized with Jordan who conceded 58 runs from 3.5 overs.

"It would be quite harsh to say that their attack is the worst. They are missing the bowler whose role Jordan fulfills. Let's say Jordan wins the game, we'd be having a different discussion. It's just one game," Nannes said.

Maheesh Theekshana, fresh from a match-winning performance against Royal Challengers Bangalore, was once again crucial in the powerplay as he sent back Vijay Shankar and Abhinav Manohar. Nannes felt that CSK can benefit more with an effective fast bowler in the powerplay.

"I would like to see him bowl more in the middle. In the other games, I haven't seen him take wickets like today but he has been bowling in the right areas. I'd like to see one more good fast bowler in the powerplay. It's unfortunate that they are missing their premier Indian fast bowler for the tournament," he said.

Apart from missing their biggest buy in the auction, Nannes felt there is nothing much wrong within the CSK squad for the season.

"They go with the tried formula of pick their own and stick to them. It worked very well for them in the past. I don't think missing a fast bowler is fantastic. MS is a wonderful player, Bravo was outstanding. Its just that they are not the young side they once were. Its just changing of the guard," he said.