Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) all-rounder Chris Morris hailed teammate Devdutt Padikkal as the ‘future of Indian cricket’. Opener Padikkal, RCB’s second highest run-scorer in the tournament after Virat Kohli, bears resemblance to former Australia batsman Matthew Hayden, Morris added.
“Devdutt has been incredible. He has an imposing way of batting, similar to Matthew Hayden. Devdutt does not have Hayden’s physical size, but he has a similar technique with the way he hits the ball. He is a great athlete, which is important. He is the future of Indian cricket,” Morris said, in a media interaction on Friday.
Praise for Washington
The South African had high praise for other Indian players in RCB as well. “Washington Sundar is coming into his own now. It feels like he has been playing IPL since he was 13 (laughs). Washington has the ball on a string,” Morris said.
“I was with (Navdeep) Saini during my time with Delhi Daredevils. Saini was a net bowler then. I couldn’t believe that he wasn’t playing because he was bowling at rocket speed. It’s great to see him become an India international now.”
On Siraj, the hero in Wednesday’s match against Kolkata Knight Riders, Morris said, “Siraj worked hard with Dale Steyn to get his seam position right. To see Siraj execute that in the match was incredible. The impressive thing about the Indian fast bowlers is their work rate. They just bowl, bowl and bowl.”
With nine wickets in five matches, at a terrific economy rate of 5, Morris is another vital part of the RCB bowling unit. The 33-year-old is returning from an injury which forced him to miss the early stage of the tournament.
Hard graft
“I got the injury while batting. I played a shot and tweaked a stomach muscle. It was the first time I got an injury like that. The medical staff and I worked very hard to set it right. I had to wake up every two hours at night to get on the rehab machine. It was four weeks of hard graft,” Morris said.
