Chris Morris recently talked about the situation in the Rajasthan Royals camp during the anxious moments before and after the sudden suspension of IPL 2021 this week.
The South African showed how the franchise’s director of cricket, Kumar Sangakkara ‘drew a finger across his throat, indicating that the tournament had been cancel. He also told how the team members, especially the English players, alarmed, thus creating a chaotic atmosphere.
“I was chatting to our team doctor, whose room was across the hallway from my mine in the hotel and Kumar (Sangakarra) came around the corner and drew his finger across his throat. It was then that we knew it was over. And it was chaos! The England guys especially were panicking because they needed to isolate in hotels in England first, and apparently, there weren’t any rooms,” Morris told IOL.
Two players from the Kolkata Knight Riders and 5 members of the Chennai Super Kings squad tested positive for COVID-19 on May third. This resulted in the suspension of KKR’s game versus the Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Chris Morris stressed that the players detected that even after this bubble breach, IPL 2021 was ‘under pressure to remain.
“The moment we heard that players were testing positive inside the bubble, everyone starts asking questions. The alarm bells definitely started going off for all of us. By Monday, when they postponed that game (KKR vs RCB), we knew the tournament was under pressure to continue,” Morris said.
Just a reminder: 𝑫𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒆. 😁 #HallaBol | #RoyalsFamily | @KumarSanga2 pic.twitter.com/ugT7ZZ73Uu
— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) May 5, 2021
Although, the damage limitation measures put in place failed as more players and employees from various franchises tested positive for the coronavirus the following day. The tournament was briefly suspended on May 4th.
The Royals’ management made everyone feel as comfortable as possible: Chris Morris
Chris Morris praised RR’s backroom staff for helping the players feel happy. He also said that the hotel environment was ‘eerie’ and clarified to settle the nerves of Protein youngster Gerald Coetzee.
“The Royals’ management were brilliant, they had their fingers on the pulse. They made everyone feel as comfortable as possible. I know poor Gerald was panicking a bit, I mean he’s only 20 and all this is going on. I tried to keep him under my wing a bit and made sure he was ready when the 12.30 am pick-up came at the hotel. It was eerie, it was just a handful of us in that whole hotel at the time,” Chris Morris said.
Also read:- “I learnt things I didn’t know about me” – Riyan Parag with Kumar Sangakkara