Rajasthan Royals have revealed that they won’t be asking their golden goose England’s all-rounder Ben Stokes to bowl much in the upcoming IPL 2021, as they won’t him to burn out too early. Stokes is most likely to be available for the entire edition along with other England recruits like Jofra Archer and Jos Buttler.
Rajasthan Royals were also the biggest spenders in the recent IPL 2021 auction, as they splurged INR 16.25 crores on South Africa’s Chris Morris and INR 4.4 crores on India’s Shivam Dube. This has not only to bolsters their middle order but also takes the pressure off Ben Stokes to perform with the ball as well, as he did in the past two seasons for the franchise.
Kumar Sangakkara. Image-Getty.
Ben Stokes Extremely Crucial For Us With Bat At The Top Of The Order- Kumar Sangakkara, RR Director Of Cricket
Rajasthan Royals made Ben Stokes open the batting in the second half of the IPL 2020 and he repaid the faith by hitting his second century in IPL in one of the matches. Therefore, RR’s director of cricket Kumar Sangakkara said that the team management wants Stokes to focus on his batting, with Chris Morris and Shivam Dube joining the team.
“I think for us the focus on Dube is for his batting and if there is an opportunity for him to bowl it will be very rare or very few overs. Stokes is off course capable with the ball but his role at the top of the order is extremely crucial and his ability with the bat,” said Sangakkara.
“In terms of his overs, we don’t want to burn him (Stokes) too much with the ball and use him tactically. In areas where he can make a difference for us. So, in terms of Stokes coming in and bowling, we have no doubt that he can deliver but we don’t want him to burn him all the time,” he added.
We’ve A Specific Role For Chris Morris In The RR Team- Kumar Sangakkara
Sangakkara further added that the RR team went for Chris Morris in the IPL 2021 auction with a very specific role in the mind for him. The former Sri Lanka skipper said that team wants the South Africa all-rounder to support England pacer Jofra Archer.
Chris Morris played for Rajasthan Royals in 2015. Image-Twitter.
“Morris has a very specific role for us to play in supporting Archer. I think it gives us a lot more flexibility in terms of how we use Archer. Morris’ numbers when he is fit and strong have been best in all IPLs. Especially at the death, his numbers are probably number one and in terms of the game impact, he is very much in the top bracket. His ability in that sense is very crucial for us,” he added.
The Royals also added Bangladesh left-arm pacer, Mustafizur Rahman, for the season at his base price of Rs 1 crore and local talent Chetan Sakariya of Saurashtra.
Also Read: IPL 2021 Auction: Chris Morris ‘Incredibly Excited’ To Join His Former Franchise Rajasthan Royals After A Record-Breaking Deal
