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Regular-article-logo Wednesday, 24 April 2024

England captain Eoin Morgan looks back in wonder

Morgan is in India as part of a promotional for the Abu Dhabi T10 League

Indranil Majumdar Calcutta Published 23.09.19, 08:27 PM
England captain Eoin Morgan during a press conference at Trent Bridge in Nottingham, England, on June 2, 2019.

England captain Eoin Morgan during a press conference at Trent Bridge in Nottingham, England, on June 2, 2019. (AP)

More than two months after winning the World Cup, Eoin Morgan still gets goosebumps when he relives the Lord’s final.

England defeated New Zealand via superior boundary count after the 50-over contest and the Super Over were tied.

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“I still get that feeling… May be it will remain that way all the time. I’ve watched it at least 10 times and I still get goosebumps watching it.

“Everything, from Ben Stokes hitting that last ball off Trent Boult of our batting Super Over for a four to Jimmy Neesham hitting a six off the second ball from Jofra Archer. Then that winning moment... It’s all so fresh in memory,” England’s World Cup-winning captain told The Telegraph from Mumbai on Tuesday evening. The 33-year-old didn’t forget to mention his teammates’ contribution.

“It’s amazing to be a World Cup-winning captain. The support has been overwhelming, the hard work and dedication that we have put in over the last four years has bore fruit. The team and I are extremely proud of what we have achieved,” he said.

Morgan is in India as part of a promotional for the Abu Dhabi T10 League, which will be telecast on Sony Pictures Sports Network.

He was quick to mention coach Trevor Bayliss’s role in the team’s transformation from also-rans to a champion side. Bayliss ended his stint as England coach after the Ashes.

“Trevor’s role has been a crucial one. He has obviously been involved in everything over the last few years. He has made sure we continue to commit ourselves in the direction that he wanted us to go. Also, the change in style and brand of cricket that we wanted to play to become a stronger team. We are very grateful to have had him over the last four years,” Morgan remarked.

He believes Jason Roy can be successful in Tests despite failing in the Ashes. “Jason is an extremely talented cricketer and I thought he deserved his chance to play Tests. His talent and ability has really come to the fore in white-ball cricket and I believe he can apply that in Tests in the future.”

Morgan is extremely happy for Jofra Archer. “He’s been fantastic. Jofra is very exciting to watch and has an X-factor. He can bowl in any format of the game and to any plan. Every obstacle that is being put in front of him, he overcomes that. We haven’t seen the best of him.”

The England limited-overs captain thinks Steve Smith can be a handful in the shorter version as well after the Ashes success. “He always can... He averages over 60 in Tests and over 40 in ODIs. So you can never rule him out.”

Morgan has his eyes set on next year’s T20 World Cup in Australia. “We have 18 T20Is from between now and then and will try to build a squad that can potentially win that tournament. We came to India in 2016 and made it to the final… If we can build momentum and gel together as a side, it will give us a good chance,” he said.

But he’s equally excited about the newly-introduced T10 format. “T10 is new to the sport. The last four years have been pretty exciting. The format itself is a great example of fantastic sport and it does appeal to people who normally doesn’t follow cricket,” an optimistic Morgan said.

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