Chris Morris hit the jackpot in the IPL auction on Saturday when the Delhi Daredevils bid $1.3-million for his all-round talents.
‘We feel that he is a very good bowler who can bat a bit. I think if you have a good bowling side we can restrict the opposition to under 150 and then the batsmen can win the game. He is a match winner and he can bowl upfront and at the death,’ said a Delhi official. His price was more than 14 times his base reserve.
Dale Steyn, who was not retained by the Sunrisers after spending much of the last campaign on the bench, went on the open market and was snapped up by the new team Gujarat Lions for $388,000. Kevin Petersen also became a free agent and was taken by another new team, the Rising Pune Supergiants for $515,000.
Pune and Gujurat were created to replace Chennai Super Kings, two-time champions in the IPL, and Rajasthan Royals, who were suspended from the league for two years for the betting activities of key officials during the 2013 season.
Kyle Abbott went to the Punjab for $309,000.
AB de Villiers, star of the Royal Challengers Bangalore, was of course among the players retained by their teams and not up for auction. He will be joined by Shane Watson, who drew the top bid of $1.4 million.
Faf du Plessis was bought by the Pune team before the auction.
Other retained players were: Albie Morkel, Imran Tahir, Quinton de Kock, JP Duminy (Delhi Daredevils), David Miller (Kings XI Punjab), Morne Morkel (Kolkatar Knight Riders), Marchant de Lange (Mumbai Indians), David Wiese (Royal Challengers Bangalore).
Also unsold were: Rilee Rossouw, Morne van Wyk , Wayne Parnell, Beuran Hendricks, Richard Levi, Dean Elgar, Reeza Hendricks, Farhaan Behardien, Vernon Philander, Johan Botha, Robin Peterson, Henry Davids, Hardus Viljoen and Mthokozisi Shezi.
