After registering a comprehensive six-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Rajasthan Royals all-rounder Chris Morris said that his side wants to play an exciting brand of cricket so that it gives the viewer a reason to smile during these hard and gloomy times caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Sanju Samson and David Miller played unbeaten knocks of 42 and 24 respectively as Rajasthan Royals defeated KKR by six wickets with seven balls to spare on Saturday here at the Wankhede Stadium. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shivam Dube also chipped in with 22 runs each to guide Rajasthan to a comfortable victory.
“As a team, we have been talking about it quite a lot over the last two days. We have seen how badly this pandemic has taken over the specific parts, if not the entire country. So as a team, we just want to say the heroes out there, the frontline workers all over the world, to be doing what they are doing day in and day out for 24 hours a day is just incredible. As a team, we are feeling the hurt for everyone around the world,” said Morris while replying to an ANI query during a virtual press conference.
“It is quite difficult to comprehend what is happening. It is a responsibility for us to play with smiles on our faces because we have a reason to smile. We hopefully get to keep people happy on the other side of the screen. Whether we winning or losing, it is an opportunity to keep people smiling, if that gives people a reason to smile, then we are doing well as a sport,” he added.
Earlier, a spirited bowling performance helped Rajasthan Royals restrict KKR to 133/9 in the allotted twenty overs. For Sanju Samson-led side, Chris Morris scalped four wickets. For KKR, Rahul Tripathi and Dinesh Karthik played knocks of 36 and 25 respectively.
“I am not sure, we knew we were not the playing on the wicket which was used against RCB. There was a reason we chose to bat second because it tends to speed up at night which it did. As a bowling unit, if the slower balls grip then you tend to use it more often. It’s very easy to go down the dark route of thinking you are not good enough when you get beaten by 10 wickets but sometimes you need to tip your hat off to the opposition,” said Morris.
“As a team we had a good discussion on what was our motivation. The first seven overs, we were having an absolute blast, it was very entertaining. The guys had a good time. I think of all us are leaders in the game, Chetan Sakariya is in his first IPL. We are all leaders in our own way in terms of bowling attack. We have a lot of cool heads, we have got Rahul Tewatia, whoever is on the field can come and give you advice,” he added.
Rajasthan Royals has now moved to the sixth place in the points table with 4 points from 5 games. The side will next take on Mumbai Indians on Thursday at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.
