CHENNAI: After speculation about a dip in his standards, South African all-rounder reinforced his worth in the side with a handy all-round effort, first blasting a six-ball 19, punctuated with three massive sixes, and later chipping in with timely wickets in second, thus blowing Deccan Chargers fuse on Sunday at Chepauk.

The obvious refrain was to compare him with former South African all-rounder Lance Klusener. But Morkel, out of the South African team, downplayed the comparison. “Lance Klusener is one of my idols. If I can be half the player he was, I will be happy,” he chuckled.

Whereas, he has struggled with his timing in previous encounters, on Sunday he cleared 114 metres, the bigg*est six of the tournament. It is not easy to hit in the end overs, especially if you get on*ly six or seven balls per match. I had to practise hard. Considering the position I bat in, I get only (about) four balls to face anyway. Hence, it is all about whether I can do one or two good things for the team and help them win, “ said Morkel.

Variations, he reckons, is key to his success. “I am not a 145-kmph bowler. So I need to use a lot of variatio*ns. When there is a bit of swing around, it does help a bit, but when the ball goes straight, it becomes a bit tough,” said Morkel, who after being tonked around in the opening spell riposted, accounting for Bharat Chipli, Cameroon White and JP Duminy.

He, however, was surprised about DC dropping Dale Steyn. I think Dale and Ishant, in the last couple of games formed a formidable bowling pair. Hence, dropping one of the world’s best Test and One-day bowlers is baffling. But they have a couple of back-to-back games in Hyderabad, so may be they’re saving him for those, he reasoned. Meanwhile, he prais*ed his skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, whose bowling changes worked effectively. I have never seen him sweat. He leads by a gut feeling and keeps his emotions under check. He is a fabulous example for us, he opined.

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