IPL 2021 – Sunil Gavaskar slams RR’s Chris Morris: Former Indian captain turned commentator Sunil Gavaskar has delivered a damning verdict on Chris Morris claiming that the IPL’s most expensive player has seldom delivered in his career. Rajasthan Royals crashed out of the IPL 2021 after a humbling 86-run defeat against the Kolkata Knight Riders. In a game when they needed Morris to fire, the all-rounder was dismissed for a duck, much to the disappointment of the franchise and Sunil Gavaskar.
IPL 2021: Sunil Gavaskar not impressed with IPL’s most expensive player Chris Morris, says ‘RR’s 16.5 cr buy hasn’t lived up to expectations’
Chris Morris was picked up by Rajasthan Royals for a whopping ₹16.25 crore at the IPL 2021 auction – the highest and costliest purchase ever in history, but the South African all-rounder failed to make his mark. Speaking on Star Sports, Sunil Gavaskar was particularly critical of Morris’ performance, saying that he fell way short of expectations the franchise had from him.
Gavaskar said, “There were so high expectations of him when Rajasthan picked him and I know it’s always not possible to live up to the high expectations. He is just the kind of cricketer who has always had the promise but very seldom has delivered in his entire cricketing career. It is not just about this IPL. There have been high hopes of him when he has played for South Africa but he hasn’t quite lived up to expectations.”
IPL 2021: Sunil Gavaskar not impressed with IPL’s most expensive player Chris Morris, says ‘RR’s 16.5 cr buy hasn’t lived up to expectations’
While Sunil Gavaskar doesn’t question Chris Morris’ talent, he believes that the South African lacks the temperament to come through on it, for his national team and in franchise cricket. The former Indian batsman said, “Maybe there are fitness or temperament issues becase often you have the talent but not the temperament and that doesn’t help you. You might succeed in the odd game but if you want to be consistently successful, your temperament and talent needs to be married.”
Chris Morris was impressive with the ball in Phase 1, but his form tapered considerably come Phase 2, which also saw him being dropped from the side. In the 11 games he played this season, Morris bagged 15 wickets at a woeful economy rate of 9.17. With the bat he managed just 67 runs in the entire campaign, including the best score of 36* in Phase 1. His average of 13.40 depicts his poor returns with the abt, in what has been a season to forget for the South African all-rounder.
