The COVID-forced four-month break between the first and second leg of the Indian Premier League is sure to affect the “match readiness” of some players and they may just “struggle” to pull off the battle, says Rajasthan Royals The South African feels all-rounder Chris Morris. While most of the foreign players were freelancing in the league and also playing international cricket, the Indian domestic players had no playing time. IPL Inside Bio-Bubble closed in the first week of May due to COVID-19 cases.
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“Match preparation is going to be an issue just like the last time when IPL was played in Dubai. People will play something to get Jung out of their way,” said Morris, one of the mainstays in this Royals line-up, when asked about the challenges of keeping the IPL in two halves.
“Luckily, foreign players are playing some cricket. I’ve done pre-season at home, trying to lose weight. Match fitness is always the best kind of fitness. We have two practice matches now and we have spent time on our feet,” Morris said.
Morris, a medium-pacer and lower-order big-hitter, feels that simulations can never match the intensity of real games. “You can never emulate the intensity of a match and I think some people will struggle to pull off that battle. It is the nature of the beast of COVID at this time,” he said.
“Some people have to give up their fight and I think it’s part of the game,” he said. You have to find a way to get out and make it work,” he said.
For Morris, all the freelance foreign players like Liam Livingstone, and Evin Lewis, would add a lot of intensity to the game. “The guys who are there, they are playing the league and scoring a lot of runs and making a huge impact around the world,” he said.
Morris also said that the Royals’ bowling unit has the quality of restricting the opposition. “The bowling unit is going to be under pressure because it’s the bowlers who win you matches, we know we have the quality to restrict teams and at the business end, we’ll go out all guns blazing,” he said.
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