Kings XI Punjab appoint David Miller captain

Kings XI Punjab have named South Africa batsman David Miller captain for IPL 2016. Last year the team was captained by Australia's George Bailey, but the franchise had not retained Bailey this season.

Sanjay Bangar, Kings XI's coach, said Miller had the right temperament to lead. "I have watched David grow as a player. He has displayed outstanding batting abilities and a cool temperament in many high-pressure situations," Bangar said. "I am confident in his potential to lead the boys this season."

While he has little captaincy experience on the South African domestic circuit, Miller, 26, is a key batting cog in Kings XI's line-up. He has been with them since the 2011 season, signed in April 2011 as a replacement player for England allrounder Dimitri Mascarenhas.

In 2015, he was the only batsman to score more than 300 runs for them, hitting 357 at 32.45, with a strike rate of 134.21. It was a poor year overall for the team, which finished last in the league stage of the tournament. Ahead of the IPL auction this year, Miller was one of four overseas players retained - the others being Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell and Mitchell Johnson.

Miller's appointment comes a few days after Kings XI appointed retired India batsman Virender Sehwag team mentor.

Squad: David Miller, Swapnil Singh, M Vijay, Wriddhiman Saha, Rishi Dhawan, Kyle Abbott, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Pardeep Sahu, Anureet Singh, Sandeep Sharma, Farhaan Behardien, Shardul Thakur, Mohit Sharma, Manan Vohra, Gurkeerat Singh, Axar Patel, Nikhil Naik, Mitchell Johnson, Shaun Marsh, KC Cariappa, Armaan Jaffer