IPL 2016: Chris Morris heaps praise on Mustafizur Rahman, reveals how Delhi Daredevils tackled him
Delhi Daredevils bowler Chris Morris has heaped praise on Bangladeshi bowling prodigy Mustafizur Rahman, adding that they put in a lot of hard work to tackle his bowling. DD pulled off a seven-wicket victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad on May 12 and moved to the third spot on the points table.
Morris said the team watches videos of how other players have successfully managed to face Mustafizur's bowling.
"I think we took a little bit of time, obviously, watching the videos of how Steven Smith played him. And then how Ashwin played him in the last game. Specially, for right-handers," he said during the post-match press conference.
"He's an unbelievable bowler at the age of 20. It's scary to see. So for a guy who's doing so well in the IPL, his first IPL especially, we've got to pick up the box to try and combat what he's putting down. There's a lot of hard work that goes on behind the scenes that lot of people don't know.
“We analyse quite a lot and come up with game plans. And fortunately, it worked today."
Also read: IPL 2016: Why Mustafizur Rahman has been problematic for umpires
One of the youngsters in the team, Rishabh Pant, who has showcased his fine skills in the tournament so far, played a crucial role in paving the way for DD’s victory. He put on a 72-run partnership with Sanju Samson with his unbeaten 39 off 26 after opener Quinton de Kock gave them a quickfire start.
Morris lauded the southpaw for his phenomenal batting down the order. "Look, I think when you've got Rishabh Pant, who's an unbelievable talent - he just comes in and 'see ball, hit ball'. It doesn't matter who the bowler is. It's unbelievable to watch. I thought he played outstandingly," adding that the side will take a lot of confidence out of this victory.
He also said that the players hit genuine cricket shots without any slogging, adding that de Kock had shown them how to face swing coming from pacers like Ashish Nehra and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. "Quiney [de Kock] showed us today how to play a ball that's swinging.
“You've got experience in Nehra and you've got Bhuvi, who swings it both ways. So I thought it was excellent from the way they played today. I take my hat off to Mr. Pant and Sanju, because they played outstanding knocks today."
DD, who have made heads turn by performing impressively this season, are in contention to make it to the playoffs.