IPL: Morris to play supporting role to Archer, says Sangakkara

All-rounder Chris Morris was bought by Rajasthan Royals for Rs 16.25 crore in the IPL auction

Mumbai: Rajasthan Royals’ director of cricket Kumar Sangakkara on Friday said that all-rounder Chris Morris, who was bought by the franchise for Rs 16.25 crore in the IPL auction, will have a “very specific role of supporting” pace spearhead Jofra Archer.

“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,” Sangakkara said at a virtual interaction.

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The 43-year-old Sri Lankan batting great, who has played 134 Tests and 404 ODIs, said Morris’ numbers were pretty good. “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.”

“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,” said Sangakkara on the team’s rationale behind picking Morris.