Published 20:19 IST, February 19th 2021
Gautam Gambhir explains why INR '16.25 crore' price tag will put pressure on Chris Morris
Gautam Gambhir says there will be immense pressure on SA all-rounder Chris Morris to deliver after fetching a bid of INR 16.25 crores in IPL 2021 Auctions
Former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir has said that Chris Morris will be under immense pressure after fetching a bid of INR 16.25 crores in the recently-concluded IPL 2021 Auctions. He will be representing the inaugural edition's champions Rajasthan Royals in the upcoming season.
'There will be a lot of pressure on him to deliver': Gautam Gambhir
“I didn’t expect him to go for that much money because he has not played international cricket, I can understand Maxwell, he played well against India during the Australia tour in the T20 format. Morris, I don’t know if he is anymore an X-factor, he does bowl, he does bat a little bit at No.7 or No. 8,” said Gambhir while speaking on Star Sports.
“He could be a back-up for someone like Ben Stokes. But 16.25 crore, now there will be a lot of pressure on him to deliver. He needs to play 14 games. I am sure he would be working to play 14 games, at this price tag you would definitely want to play the entire tournament and he has not done that for any franchise, I reckon he has played for. But then ₹16.25 crore for someone who hasn’t played any competitive cricket. We have to see what kind of rhythm he comes in", the ex-KKR skipper added.
Chris Morris becomes the most expensive player at an IPL auction
The Proteas all-rounder became the most expensive player at an IPL auction. In the recently-concluded mini-auction, Morris entered with a base price of INR 75 lakhs. The defending champions Mumbai Indians and the three-time finalists Royal Challengers Bangalore both showed interest before Rajasthan Royals made a belated entry after RCB pulled out at INR 10 crores.
The bidding continued between Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals and the South African all-rounder was finally sold to the Royals. The fee smashed the record INR 16 crores paid for Yuvraj Singh by Delhi Daredevils in 2015.
Meanwhile, the middle-order batsman will be representing the 2008 champions for the second time in six years. He was a part of the Royals squad during the 2015 edition of the tournament where he could only manage to amass 76 runs in the 11 matches that he got to play at an average of 38 and a strike rate of 165.21. Chris Morris also managed to register 13 scalps as well. at an average of 23.92 and an economy rate of 7.40.
The Rajasthan franchise was not convinced with his performances and released him in the following year's auctions where he was brought by the now-defunct Delhi Daredevils.
Updated 20:19 IST, February 19th 2021