South African fast bowling all-rounder Chris Morris made history during the mini IPL Auctions when he fetched the highest amount in any IPL Auction till date. He was snapped up by the Rajasthan Royals at a whopping price of Rs 16.25 crores and the tall fast bowler is looking forward to leading the Rajasthan Royals pace cartel in the absence of Jofra Archer. Despite the added responsibilities for Morris, he feels that it won’t change his role in the team.
The absence of Jofra Archer will surely be a huge void to fill. Archer has been their spearhead in the last two seasons and has weaved his magic with the ball. An elbow injury sustained during the recently concluded England tour of India has ruled him out of the entirety of the competition. In his absence, Chris Morris will lead the attack and will play an instrumental role if Rajasthan harbours hopes of repeating their heroics from the inaugural year.
“Every single team that I have played in the IPL, my role has been with the new ball and at the death. That doesn’t really change. I have always had fast bowlers in the team and I’ve been there supporting act,” Morris was quoted as saying during a virtual press conference.
“It won’t be a new role if I am leading an attack, won’t be new if I am supporting. There is a little bit of responsibility when it comes to leading the attack. But like I said, since it wouldn’t be able to be alien to me,” he added.
There is no doubt about the fact that Morris will be under some sport of pressure because of the price tag. Not even an Indian player has fetched this gigantic amount in any of the auctions. Speaking on the same, Morris said that he will feel a few butterflies in his stomach but this is not the first time when he has fetched a big sum in the auctions.
“I think it’s natural to have a little bit of pressure when something like that has happened. I’d be lying to you if there wasn’t any pressure but fortunately enough in the past, I have been coming in with quite a big price tag on my head.
At the end of the day, you need to perform, no matter what the price tag is.” Meanwhile, the all-rounder feels that his role in the team if different to that of Ben Stokes who is a magician on the field. The southpaw can do freakish things on the cricket field and Morris said that facing them as a dup will be quite an interesting challenge for their opponents.
“I think we have got different roles Stokes opens the batting. He is one of the best in the world if not the best. My role is to finish off games with the bat which I hope I can do more of this year. With the ball it’s different I think he bowled a lot less in the IPL last year than he did in the previous years. But the guy has got the magic touch when it comes to cricket. So, you know, if we feeding off each other in our different roles on the team, you know, I think we could be quite a quite an interesting duo to come up against,” Morris said.
Sanju Samson has been named as the new captain of the Rajasthan Royals and Morris has shared the dressing with Samson before. Morris is of the opinion being a youngster and someone who also keeps wicket and fields will have a lot to offer while leading the side.
“I’m obviously quite lucky I’ve got a very good relationship with Sanju, I have batted with him at Rajasthan and in Delhi. I don’t see him a young captain I see him as a seriously good cricket player, who’s got a great cricket brain. For a guy who can keep wickets and field, he’s seen different angles, different approaches from the back and the side. So, you know, I’m sure it’s got some good ideas, I’m sure it’s got some interesting things that we can discuss when it comes to tactics and to what the plans are.”
Morris said that it’s always a confidence booster for him individually to see so many teams trying to buy him the auctions. “I didn’t expect to be bought for that much and so many teams to employ my services. It’s humbling, I never thought I’d be playing these many IPLs.”
Morris ended his virtual press conference by stating that their main goal now is to win the tournament which has been eluding them since their historic victory in the inaugural edition.
“Whether T20 World Cup or not it’s going to be a very important season. Your main focus is to win the IPL. It’s the second biggest trophy, if not the biggest in the year without a World Cup, you want to win as a domestic cricketer,” Morris concluded.