India vs South Africa: Chris Morris makes himself unavailable for the tour

A few months ago, Chris Morris, the South African all-rounder, wasn’t even close to being in contention for a berth in the national ODI and Test team. However, just before the 2019 World Cup in England and Wales, the rub of the green went in his favour. He was roped in a replacement of speedster Anrich Nortje, who was ruled out of the tournament due to a fractured thumb.

Nortje’s exclusion opened up the doors for Morris, who ended up playing eight matches in the mega event. The pacer was their leading wicket-taker with 13 scalps at an average of 26.23. He did well with the bat as well, having gotten 74 runs with a top score of 42. South Africa bowed out of the World Cup before the semis and are next scheduled to travel India for a Test and T20I series.

Chris Morris pulls out of India series

The fixtures get underway on September 15 with the first T20I at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamshala. In the meantime, it has been learned that Morris has made himself unavailable for selection for the away series as per Neil Manthorp, a popular sports journalist in South Africa. It’s also been known that its because he would be taking part in the Euro T20 Slam, which starts on August 30.

A number of players have opted out of international fixtures for T20 franchise cricket and Morris joins the long list of cricketers. Recently, Andre Russell pulled out of the ODI and T20I series against India and plied his trade for the Vancouver Knights in the Global T20 Canada. He was thereafter a recipient of severe criticism. Morris has played only four Tests in national colors.

Morris hasn’t played a whole lot of T20Is as well, having represented his nation in 23 encounters in which he scored 133 runs and picked up 34 wickets. As far as the tour of India is concerned, the itinerary consists of two more T20Is in Mohali and Bangalore, followed by three Tests.

After the Proteas poor run in the World Cup, there were speculations over skipper Faf du Plessis; future as the captain. However, Corrie van Zyl, South Africa’s director of cricket, confirmed that the veteran batsman will be persisted with as the Test skipper, if not the One Day team.

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