Chris Morris backs 'quality human' Ajinkya Rahane for SA20 success

Chris Morris lauds Ajinkya Rahane, calling him a 'quality human' and a valuable addition for any T20 team due to his experience. He also praised Joe Root's ego-less influence at Paarl Royals ahead of the SA20 auction.

Chris Morris Endorses Ajinkya Rahane for SA20

Former South Africa all-rounder Chris Morris believes Ajinkya Rahane's experience and temperament could make the recently retired India batter a valuable addition to any overseas T20 franchise, while also lauding Joe Root's influence ahead of the SA20's fifth-season auction as the England veteran has been named as the pre-signed wildcard player for the Paarl Royals. Morris, who shared the dressing room with Rahane at Rajasthan Royals in the IPL 2025, made the assessment during an interaction facilitated by SA20 ahead of the Season 5 auction.

When asked if SA20 teams will be interested in the former India skipper if he made himself available, Morris said, "Absolutely. I mean he brings a wealth of experience and he is a world-class human being in general. I have shared a dressing room with him and he is just a wonderful human being. When you've got someone like that with the experience and the calmness under pressure I think he would be someone that people would want to look after."

Morris gave an example of Dinesh Karthik, who played for Paarl Royals in third edition of SA20 and said, "We saw how well Dinesh Karthik impacted the Paarl Royals when he joined their squad and -- first of all again, great human (Karthik) and never scared to share an opinion or share how he thinks about the game and the successes that are coming his way now because of that character that he has. Jinks is very much the same. He's a quality player, a quality human being, captained in the IPL and he's played for India for many many years."

He added, "So you bring that experience into a change room, all it can do is really guide your youngsters into a direction of how they want to play the game. Let's not talk about his cricket alone, it just the way he bats, the way he gets on with it and he's very capable of scoring T20 hundreds with his eyes closed in my opinion still. So look if he comes over, I think it'd be a great addition to any squad because uh quality cricketer but even more quality human being."

Rahane, who announced his retirement from international cricket and the IPL in July this year, has since signed as a marquee player with Netherlands-based Amsterdam Flames for the inaugural European T20 Premier League. His retirement has made him eligible to pursue franchise opportunities outside India, with Morris suggesting that Rahane's leadership experience and calmness could be particularly valuable in a foreign dressing room.

Morris Lauds Joe Root's Impact at Paarl Royals

Morris also spoke about another experienced international batter, England's Joe Root, who is set to return to the Paarl Royals for the upcoming SA20 season. Root, the leading run-scorer among active Test players with 14,114 runs in 166 matches, played for Paarl Royals in the third season of the SA20 in 2025. He missed the fourth season because of England commitments but has made himself available for the 2027 edition.

Asked about the value of Root's experience to young South African players, Morris said the England batter's impact went well beyond his performances on the field. "It's massive. I mean it speaks for itself, the pedigree that he brings. I always talk about the impact that players have in a change room and speaking to the Paarl Royals team after that tournament where Joe played, they all said the exact same thing. He came in and there were no egos about it, he almost arrived knowing that he was probably one of the greatest players to ever do it. So you know and that makes an impact on people because when certain auras arrive around players," Morris said.

He added, "There are egos in the sport but when you've got a guy that's probably the greatest batter that England's ever produced, walks into a change room and he feels like that he walks in and goes straight away one of the boys with no ego or anything like that, then it makes an impact on you. So I think genuinely good people, they make impact and all of a sudden people want to listen to what you're saying as a cricketer because you know there's no arrogance around what you're saying."

He further added, "And if you look at the way guys go around the conversation of the game, what I have heard is that he genuinely means well for actually every single player and you know I can believe that having spent a little bit of time with him -- he's a guy that's really empathetic and a guy that actually takes the time to get to know people and when you've got someone like that in your squad apart from the cricketing side of the game, when you've got people like that in your squad it's absolute gold dust and you know what he brings to the game, unbelievable. But you know he's one of those guys that'll pick up certain things in players' games and not scared to help out and throw balls and work, so massive impact on that squad in the first time he was there (Paarl Royals) and I've got no doubt he'll do exactly the same this year."

Root's return is among the high-profile developments ahead of the SA20 Season 5 auction, with the tournament continuing to attract established international names. The new season of SA20 is expected to start in January next year. (ANI)

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