Miller relishing coaching opportunity against Pakistan
Published:Friday | January 10, 2025 | 12:12 AMOrane Buchanan/Staff Reporter
FORMER JAMAICA and West Indies left-arm spinner Nikita Miller is excited about imparting his knowledge of the game to the Caribbean side’s spin-bowling unit for the upcoming two-Test series against Pakistan.
The series is scheduled to run from January 17-29 at the Multan Cricket Stadium.
Miller was appointed assistant coach for the tour on the back of some impressive work with the West Indies in the recently concluded series against Bangladesh, which ended 1-1.
“I’m pretty excited. Having played at this level to now getting the opportunity to coach and sharing the knowledge that I’ve gained is really a great feeling,” he explained.
The West Indies, in their last visit to Pakistan in 2006-07, were defeated 2-0 in a three-match Test series. In what is expected to be favourable conditions for spinners, the Caribbean team have opted for the services of Jomel Warrican, Kevin Sinclair, and Gudakesh Motie to operate as specialist spinners. According to Miller, this is enough quality to cause problems for the Pakistani batters.
“Definitely, we have quality here. I believe that if we can be disciplined, prepared to put in a lot of work, be patient I think we can do well on this tour,” he added.
Since his close involvement with West Indies cricket, Miller shared that he has seen rapid growth of some of the Caribbean’s best bowlers, which has taken one spinner to the top of the ICC rankings. This, Miller believes, augurs well for West Indies cricket and is also a pleasing sight.
“More so in the white ball game, when you look at Akeal Hosein, who has risen to the top of the ICC rankings in T20 and Gudakesh Motie, ranked ninth, they’re really doing well. I believe they’ve grown as spinners in both international and franchise cricket. Jomel Warrican, regionally and internationally, whenever he gets his chance, has also shown some level of growth as well. Therefore, I’m really happy with their development and growth,” said Miller.
Pakistan will enter the contest having won two of their last five Test series while the West Indies are winless in their last five with two draws and three defeats. According to Miller, batting and bowling need to be in sync in order to eke out a victory.
“It’s about how we start. I’m hoping that our players, specifically our spinners that I’m working with, can be positive, confident in their abilities, express themselves and create pressure. I believe if they can express themselves, then they can put us in a good position to win. I also think we’ll have to bat really well to win the series, but our bowlers can also put us in a similar position to win as well,” said Miller.