Mike Hesson, who is Royal Challengers Bangalore’s (RCB) Director of Cricket Operations has expressed doubt over the participation of South African all-rounder Chris Morris in his team’s next match against Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) on Thursday. He revealed that Chris Morris is recovering from a side strain injury which he picked up a few days ago.
Mike Hesson, who had earlier coached New Zealand national team also, said that absence of Chris Morris changes the balance of the side as he is a finisher, death bowler and fielder combined.
Mike Hesson: Chris Morris Is Doubtful For Next Match Which Will Change Balance Of RCB
The 45-year-old expressed that Chris Morris would be considered for selection after a few matches. Notably, Chris Morris was bought by RCB for a whopping Rs 10 crore, with the sole aim of giving depth to their batting and bowling departments.
“Chris Morris unfortunately picked up a slight side strain a few days ago, he would have played a huge role through the middle and death overs, his batting would have had a huge impact as well,” Mike Hesson said in a video posted by on RCB’s Twitter handle.
“This does change the balance of our side, he is a three in one cricketer, he is not easy to replace and as a result, we had to change the structure of our side.
The South African all-rounder was one of the top buys at the Auction ahead of IPL 2020 when he was sold to the RCB for a whopping INR 10 cr. He has scored so far 517 runs and picked up 69 wickets from 61 matches.
Mike Hesson: Chris Morris To Come Into Consideration For Selection After A Couple Of Games
Royal Challengers fielded 4 foreigners without Chris Morris in their opening game against SRH. They fielded wicket-keeper Josh Philippe, AB De Villiers, Aaron Finch and Dale Steyn. Devdutt Padikkal who made his debut scored 56 and AB De Villiers contributed with 51 as RCB posted 163/5.
Sunrisers Hyderabad looked to reach the target and were cruising at 121/2 in the 16th over before spinner Yuzvendra Chahal struck and picked up 3 wickets. He picked up the key wickets of Jonny Bairstow, Manish Pandey and Vijay Shankar. He was awarded Man of the Match as he conceded only 18 runs in his four allotted overs.
“Hopefully, Chris will come into consideration for selection in a game or two, we will continue to monitor him,” he added.
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) made an impressive comeback in their opening match of IPL 2020 against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by winning the match by 10 runs.