South Africa batter David Miller admitted it was a tough pill to swallow after their heart-breaking seven-run loss against India in the T20 World Cup final at Barbados on Saturday. The Proteas were in a shoo-in position as they needed a run-a-ball 30 with six wickets in hand in the run-chase of 177. 

David Miller was going strongly with Heinrich Klaasen, who had smashed Axar Patel for 24 runs in the 15th over. But Klaasen was dismissed on a slower wide delivery by Hardik Pandya on the first ball of the 17th over.

Furthermore, David Miller was taken brilliantly on the boundary rope by Suryakumar Yadav on the bowling off Hardik Pandya after he scored 21 off 17 balls. Indian fast bowlers – Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, and Hardik Pandya – were brilliant in the last five overs and helped their team in getting over the line.

David Miller wrote on his Instagram handle, “I am gutted!! Really tough pill to swallow after what transpired 2 days ago. Words don’t explain how I am feeling. One thing I do know is how proud I am of this unit. This journey was an incredible one, with highs and lows throughout the entire month. We have endured pain, but I know this team has the resilience and will keep raising the bar.”

Miller scored 169 runs in eight innings of the T20 World Cup 2024 at an average of 28.17 and a strike rate of 102.42 and thus played an instrumental role in taking the Proteas to the final.

Meanwhile, South Africa was finally able to break their World Cup semifinal jinx by beating Afghanistan comprehensively by nine wickets. They were in a winning position against India and thus the players were utterly disappointed after the result.