At the Whooping price of 16.25 Crore, Rajasthan Royals have brought the all-rounder from South Africa Chris Morris into his team after it was earlier shown the tough fight between Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore to avail the services of Chris Morris but both have decided to move out from the bid at the price of 10 crore-mark. Then a late entry from the franchises Punjab Kings and Rajasthan Royals who both have shown interest in Chris Morris but Rajasthan Royals have won the battle among other three franchises to bring the second most expensive player in the history of the cash-rich league.
Before this expensive bid, Yuvraj Singh was the second highest expensive player with the price of 16 crore when he was bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore. The most expensive player in the history of Indian Premier League remains the captain of Royal Challengers Bangalore, Virat Kohli with 17 crore price. Chris Morris' base price at the auction was 75 lakhs.
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While talking to Star Sports, Gautam Gambhir has said he doesn't understand Rajasthan Royals policy behind Chris Morris, “He first needs to play 14 games. He is working to play 14 games. At that price, you would want to play the entire tournament.16.25 crore for someone who has hardly played any competitive cricket? He hasn't played any cricket of any sort, so what kind of a rhythm does he come with? Very strange. I never thought he would go for that much money because he doesn't play international cricket." Gambhir said
While in the auction earlier today, Glenn Maxwell was once again brought at the highest price of 14.25 crore by Royal Challengers Bangalore. Gautam Gambhir further added, “I can understand Glenn Maxwell's point of view because he recently did well against India. Chris Morris, I don't know whether he is an X-Factor player. Yes, he bowls and bats a little bit at no. 7 /8. He still does not have that X-Factor probably a team would probably be looking for. He can fill in the gap and be a good backup for someone like Ben Stokes. But 16.25 crore? Now there will be a lot of pressure on him to deliver," added Gambhir
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However there was the video posted on Rajasthan Royals Twitter account, the former wicket-keeper batsman Kumar Sangakkara described the reason why Rajasthan Royals went far for Chris Morris in the auction, “Chris Morris (was bought) especially for his ability in terms of the ball. His numbers across the IPL are very good. And, of course, he has got the ability to get runs with the bat as well. He has a specific role for us to play. Very happy with the way things have gone.”
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Although Kumar Sangakkara has believe the price that Chris Morris has brought was bit high,
“Yes, it was quite a high price. But, at the same time, the role in the team, and the demand for that role, plays a large part in not just our franchise but any side looking for their players.”
With Chris Morris into the team, Rajasthan Royals have quality into the line-up in the form of Jofra Archer, Chris Morris, Jos Butler, David Miller, Sanju Samson, Ben Stokes and Andrew Tye and looking to prove their authority over best in the tournament also.
Retained Players - Sanju Samson, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler, Mahipal Lomror, Manan Vohra, Mayank Markande, Rahul Tewatia, Riyan Parag, Shreyas Gopal, Robin Uthappa, Jaydev Unadkat, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Anuj Rawat, Kartik Tyagi, David Miller, Andrew Tye
Released Players - Steve Smith, Akash Singh, Anirudha Joshi, Ankit Rajpoot, Oshane Thomas, Shashank Singh, Tom Curran, Varun Aaron
