“No, I don't feel the same” - Chris Morris on Dale Steyn’s “IPL less rewarding" comment
South African all-rounder Chris Morris has disagreed with Dale Steyn’s comment that the IPL is less rewarding than some other T20 leagues owing to the emphasis on money.
In an interview with Cricket Pakistan, during his PSL stint with the Quetta Gladiators, Steyn had commented that, sometimes, the over-emphasis on money takes away the attention from the actual objective of the IPL. He, however, apologized for the same, clarifying that his intention was not to demean any T20 tournament.
Asked for his views on the same, Chris Morris said, as per ESPNCricinfo, that he has a differing view. He, however, backed Steyn, explaining that everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Chris Morris stated:
"No, I don't feel the same (on Steyn’s opinion on IPL). Dale's a free spirit, Dale's one of the legends of the game, Dale's one of my favourite people in the world. Dale's got his opinions, he will be outspoken about his opinions, but that's Dale's character.”
The 33-year-old further opined that Steyn’s thoughts must have originated from how he was emotionally or physically at that point of time.
"I'm not going to delve into it too much and it was just the case of Dale feeling at that time what Dale was feeling - what he was feeling emotionally or physically or mentally. Whatever he feels that's what he feels, and I'm happy to have a conversation with him about it. But, we're all different animals, we're all different people and we have different opinions and that's what makes the world go around," Chris Morris added.
Not worried about the World Cup, I'm here to win matches: Chris Morris
The common thought process around the cricketing circuit is that IPL 2021 is a dress rehearsal for the T20 World Cup to be held in India later in the year. For Chris Morris though, it’s all about focusing on the job at hand.
"Whether there's a World Cup or not, it's going to be a very important [IPL] season all the way. Other guys will hopefully be focusing on the World Cup and that takes their focus away from the IPL and we can jump onto that. Personally, I'm not worried about the World Cup, I'm here to do the job to win matches and hopefully push for winning the trophy in the IPL," the all-rounder stated.
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Chris Morris created history at the IPL auction earlier this year. He was purchased by Rajasthan Royals for INR 16.25 crore, making him the most expensive buy ever in the T20 league.