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Picture Credit: BCCI/IPL

Rajasthan Royals all-rounder Chris Morris revealed that the hotel atmosphere turned chaotic as soon as two KKR players tested positive. The South African opened up on the mood in the Rajasthan camp after players and officials tested positive for COVID-19. Morris also explained how he helped Proteas youngster Gerald Coetzee stay calm during that time.

"The alarm bells definitely started going off for all of us"

"Look, obviously I'm relieved. The moment we heard that, when players are testing positive, inside the bubble, then everyone starts asking questions. The alarm bells definitely started going off for all of us,” Morris was quoted as saying.

"By Monday when they postponed that game (between Kolkata and Royal Challengers Bangalore), we knew the tournament was under pressure to continue."

Morris further revealed that it was Kumar Sangakkara who broke the news of the suspension of the IPL 2021 to him.

“I was chatting to our team doctor, whose room was across the hallway from my mine in the hotel and Kumar (Sangakarra) came around the corner and drew his finger across his throat. It was then that we knew it was over. And it was chaos! The England guys especially were panicking because they needed to isolate in hotels in England first, and apparently, there weren’t any rooms,” Morris said.

Royals’ management made everyone feel comfortable: Chris Morris

Morris was full of praise for the Royals’ management and said that they made everyone feel as comfortable as possible. Proteas youngster Gerald Coetzee had recently joined the team after being named the replacement for Australian Andrew Tye. Morris said he tried to comfort the young pacer as he was panicking a bit.

"I know poor Gerald was panicking a bit, I mean he’s only 20 and all this is going on. I tried to keep him under my wing a bit and made sure he was ready when the 12.30 am pick up came at the hotel. It was eerie, it was just a handful of us in that whole hotel at the time,” Morris revealed.