Chris Morris Reacts to Dale Steyn's "IPL Not Rewarding" Comment

Chris Morris, the South Africa all-rounder, opposed Dale Steyn's statement that because of the intense focus on money, the IPL is less fulfilling than some of the other T20 cricket leagues around the World.

During Steyn's time with Quetta Gladiators in the Pakistan Super League (PSL), he sat down for an exclusive interview with Cricket Pakistan. During that interview, Dale Steyn stated that due to the more focus on money, the Indian Premier League (IPL) is losing its value and is moving away from its actual objective. However, he apologized and mentioned that his intent was not to undignify any T20 competitions.

In his interview with the ESPNCricinfo, Chris Morris mentioned, "No, I don't feel the same (on Steyn's opinion on IPL). Dale's a free spirit, Dale's one of the legends of the game, Dale's one of my favourite people in the World. Dale's got his opinions, he will be outspoken about his opinions, but that's Dale's character."

He also mentioned that Dale Steyn's opinion about the IPL originated from his state of mind at that time, "I'm not going to delve into it too much and it was just the case of Dale feeling at that time what Dale was feeling - what he was feeling emotionally or physically or mentally. 

"Whatever he feels that's what he feels, and I'm happy to have a conversation with him about it. But, we're all different animals, we're all different people, and we have different opinions, and that's what makes the World go around."

While people are taking IPL as a preparation for the World Cup to be held in India this year, Chris Morris focuses only on doing his job and isn't thinking about the World Cup yet.

He said, "Whether there's a World Cup or not, it's going to be a very important [IPL] season all the way. Other guys will hopefully be focusing on the World Cup, and that takes their focus away from the IPL and we can jump onto that. Personally, I'm not worried about the World Cup, I'm here to do the job to win matches and hopefully push for winning the trophy in the IPL."

Chris Morris was sold for a record-breaking 16.25 crore in the IPL Auction to Rajasthan Royals; thus, he became the most expensive buy-in IPL history. While on the other hand, Dale Steyn remained unsold and will not feature in this year's IPL.