Morris knows he hasn't done well in the second half - Sangakkara

Chris Morris became the costliest acquisition in the history of the Indian Premier League when Rajasthan Royals snapped him up for a huge 16.5 Crore and he lived up to the expectations in the first half with consistent showing both as a batter and a bowler. However, since landing in UAE, he has been really disappointing, failing to pick wickets and not being able to contain the run-flow as well. That led to team director and head coach Kumar Sangakkara state that Morris hasn't done his job the way he would have liked to.

"Morris has done brilliantly in the first-half and he hasn't done as well as he or we would've liked him to in the second half," said Sangakkara in the press conference after the Royals lost to Royal Challengers Bangalore on Wednesday night. "He knows it and we know it. 50 runs off 4 overs... the last over to me was a throw of the dice to try and get a wicket here or there. We were well out of the game at that point. But he's done well for us in certain parts."

With four wins from 11 games, the Jaipur-based franchise have reduced from a genuine playoffs contender to the second last team on the points table. They have only three games left in the season and can get to a maximum of 14 points. Despite losing the likes of Jos Buttler, Jofra Archer, and Ben Stokes for multiple reasons, the Royals looked set on their path of dominance with the kind of resources they signed later on for the UAE leg. However, nothing really materialised for them so far.

"We always keep things simple. There's a lot of pressure on players that they put on themselves; in the game itself, there's a lot of it. My job is not to add to that but help them deal with it and come up with their best performances. There are many ways in which you manage the highs of wins and disappointments of a loss and be able to keep yourself calm and focus on what needs to be done. At times like this, it's very easy to be dejected and break up into little groups where murmurings can start but our group has held together really well," Sangakkara added.

The former Sri Lankan wicket-keeper also praised skipper Sanju Samson, saying he will be selected in the national team for a longer run.

"Yeah, we do have one-on-one chats on a lot of things. And when we do talk cricket, India aspirations come at a time when the IPL is over. And our chats are very-much IPL-focused. Not just his (Samson's) batting but about captaincy, about the team and how we are playing," Sangakkara added.

Samson, who has scored 452 runs this season, is the leading run-getter for his franchise.

"He (Samson) is a very good player, a very special player. He has done exceptionally well for us this season. And I am sure that he has aspirations to play for India and, at some point, I think he will be selected for a longer run. He is good and ready at any time that he is picked," Sangakkara signed off.