Eoin Morgan has leaned on to rediscover his bat form after a punishing stint in the recently concluded Indian Premier League, vowing to quit if he fails rather than hamper England’s chances of success in the Twenty20 World Cup.
Morgan’s form has been fragile for some time – he’s averaging 14.5 in Twenty20’s 37 innings he’s played for nearly a year since his last half century, covering the English summer, internationals last winter in South Africa and India, and the IPL, both before. and after its Covid-imposed mid-season hiatus.
However, since the competition resumed in September, having been moved to the United Arab Emirates, where the World Cup will also be played, Morgan has endured a fully formed slump, with a maximum score of 13 not eliminated and an average of 6.8 out of nine. entry. Despite his personal struggles, he managed to be the captain of the Kolkata Knight Riders until the final, where they lost to Moeen Ali’s Chennai Super Kings.
“I have missed races, but my captaincy has been pretty good,” Morgan said. “I have always managed to treat them as two different challenges. You get two bites on the cherry that shock the game. As for my hitting, I wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t come out of every losing streak in a way that I’ve had.
“The nature of Twenty20 cricket and where I hit means that I always have to make high-risk choices and I’ve come to terms with that. It’s the nature of the job, so I’ll keep taking those risks if the team needs them; if they don’t, I won’t. “
With the England team brimming with run-scoring potential, Morgan admitted he might have to consider leaving him out of the team. “It is always an option,” he said. “I’m not going to get in the way of the team that wins the World Cup.”
England will play New Zealand in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday in their final match before starting their World Cup campaign against the West Indies on Saturday. The format of this year’s competition differs from previous Twenty20 world championships in that the second group stage, which initially involved mini-leagues from four teams before growing for the last two competitions to five, has again expanded so that each group now has six teams. with the first two classified for the semifinals.
“With the new format, I suppose it is not necessary [in your best form] entering the tournament. There’s a little more headroom, ”Morgan said. “In previous years, getting out of the group stage was extremely difficult. It is similar to [50-over World Cup in] 2019, where the group stage matches were nine and everyone played against everyone. It somehow eliminates the potential of the banana skin. “
Another significant novelty of this tournament compared to most since the outbreak of the Covid pandemic is that the families of the players have been able to join them. “Previously, when families could come and go as they wanted without there being any Covid action to consider, it’s safe to say that we all take it for granted,” Morgan said.
“I think having them around has been excellent. Bubbles are getting more forgiving, but it’s quite a considerable period of time that we’ve been adhering to all of these rules. I don’t think they can last much longer, because it’s just not sustainable to ask human beings to do this and then go and perform well at a high level. “
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England lost in the final of the last T20 World Cup in 2016 and won version 50 at home in 2019. Nine of their 15-man squad for this tournament are veterans of that success. “I think we have a lot of confidence in that,” Morgan said.
“It builds a lot of confidence and reinforces that the cricket we are playing is the direction we want to go as a white ball group. We are always trying to push the limits. I think that not only this World Cup, but also next year, there is a real possibility of being contenders ”.
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George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism