He could be a back-up for someone like Stokes: Gambhir doesn't think Royals' 16.25 cr buy is 'anymore an X-factor'
The earlier record was of Yuvraj Singh, who was bought for ₹16 cr by RCB. But Rajasthan Royals decided to splash the cash on the South African all-rounder as Morris shattered that record with a ₹16.25 crore purchase.
Chris Morris created history at the Indian Premier 2021 auctions as he became the most expensive player in the history of the league. The earlier record was of Yuvraj Singh, who was bought for ₹16 cr by Delhi Daredevils. But Rajasthan Royals decided to splash the cash on the South African all-rounder as Morris shattered that record with a ₹16.25 crore purchase.
It was an exorbitant amount RR decided to pay for him and they will hope Morris live up to the price tag. But former India batsman Gautam Gambhir believes Morris doesn’t have the X-factor as he hasn’t played a lot of international cricket of late.
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"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.
"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.
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Gambhir went on to say that Morris has to play all the 14 games in the tournament after being bought for such a hefty price-tag.
"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," Gambhir said.