Morris has a very specific role to play in supporting Jofra Archer: Sangakkara

Tags: Christopher Henry Morris, Jofra Chioke Archer, Rajasthan XI, Kumar Chokshanada Sangakkara

Published on: Feb 20, 2021

Rajasthan Royals' director of cricket Kumar Sangakkara has informed that all-rounder Chris Morris, purchased by franchise for a record Rs 16.25 crore at the IPL auction, will have a very specific role of supporting Jofra Archer. Morris, on Friday, became the most expensive buy in the history of the IPL, beating Yuvraj Singh’s record of Rs 16 crore.

Speaking of Morris’ responsibility in the team, Sangakkara stated at a virtual conference, "Morris was significantly high in terms of auction price. Morris has a very specific role for us to play in supporting (Jofra) Archer. It gives us a lot more flexibility in the way we use Archer.”

The Sri Lankan legend added that although Morris was purchased at a very high price, his IPL numbers are up with the best when fit. He further said, "Also, Morris' numbers, when he is (has) been fit and strong, has been some of the best in all IPLs, especially at the depth his numbers are probably at number one, and in terms of game impact he is very much in that top bracket. So, his ability in that sense is very crucial for us, then it frees us up to kind of how, think of how to use Archer in other ways.”

Explaining further, how Morris’ inclusion will help RR’s cause, Sangakkara said, "We also have AJ (Andrew) Tye, Mustifizur (Rehman) and then we have young Indian quicks to support that, so it gives us a few more combinations that we can play and in that he (Morris) was quite crucial."

According to Sangakkara, it is his bowling stats that impressed the franchise the most, and whatever runs gets would be considered as a bonus. The 43-year-old added, "I think in considering Morris for us, the number one factor was his bowling numbers, was (which were) some of the best across the entire spread of the phases of the game, so from the top to the middle and especially at the depth, so that was our main consideration.

"His batting is a bonus, but with the batting that we do have, with (Shivam) Dube coming in, (Rahul) Tewatia did a good job for RR last season and seems to be developing well. The first nod was to the bowling aspect of Morris, and if he can add runs with the bat, which he can do, that would be an added bonus."

Sangakkara conceded that the other all-rounder, Shivam Dube, was picked to give depth to the lower-order batting. "We have Shivam Dube, we got him at a very good price, he comes in as a lefty in that middle order and it gives the ability to stretch our batting order a little bit more and have more experience there," he said.

--By A Cricket Correspondent

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