London: Eoin Morgan, England's game-changing ODI and T20I captain for years, spoke to The Telegraph in the lead-up to Thursday's second India vs England Test, at Lord's.
Morgan, who turns 32 next month, has taken England to the top in the ODI rankings. Finalists under him in the last World T20, England are ranked No.4 in cricket's youngest format.
Excerpts...
Q What are your expectations from the Lord's Test?
A Should make for an unbelievably good match. Lord's always fascinates and we don't exactly have an overwhelming record in any format. Not from the time I remember.
Q Won't it be tough for India, 0-1 down?
A (Grins) The beauty of a five-Test series is that it offers more opportunities. The players who feature on the winning side will, at the end of the series, be emotionally and physically drained. Five Tests are going to take a lot out of every player. If the ball swings much, then it's advantage England. If it doesn't, the advantage isn't with us.
Q Your reflections on the first Test, at Edgbaston, which England won by 31 runs...
A Brilliant... I'd been intrigued by what was going on... Two of the best batsmen in the world, Virat Kohli and Joe Root, captaining... That in itself was an amazing story and provided such an interesting backdrop... It's rare for the cherry to swing on all days of a Test and swing so much. The Dukes did, at Edgbaston... I've always regarded low-scoring Tests as the best ones to watch... Ben Stokes's effort and the energy he gave England on the last morning made the difference.
Q Stokes isn't going to play at Lord's. His absence leaves a massive hole, doesn't it?
A It's true that (Chris) Woakes is no Stokes, but he does the job even if he isn't in the headlines all the time. Woakes does fill much of that hole. At home, in particular, Woakes is there to be counted. Of course, Stokes will be missed.
Q Virat has quickly exorcised the demons of 2014... A total of 134 runs in that five-Test series; 200 at Edgbaston alone...
A For a cricket lover like me, that's such a romantic tale. Virat will be remembered as among the best of our generation.
Q Where do you regard Test cricket vis-a-vis the other formats?
A It's considered the pinnacle and, in that context, we couldn't have had a better start to this series. Everybody was glued to what was happening at Edgbaston, everybody was talking about the Test.
Q Given that you also regard Test cricket to be the pinnacle, aren't you disappointed that you've come to be branded as a white-ball specialist?
A I don't think I'm good enough for Test cricket and it has been a long time since I played that format (last appearance in 2012). Besides, from 2015, I've myself prioritised white-ball cricket.
Q But have you made yourself unavailable for Test cricket?
A No, no... But I'm a million miles away from selection and there are far better batsmen getting runs in the County Championship. That's the bottom line... My chance came and went... I played 16 wonderful Tests, gained lots of experience. Much of that came at a young age, so I consider myself fortunate.
Q You're regarded an outstanding captain in the two white-ball formats... Your role model?
A Andrew Strauss... He was my first England captain and came from my County, Middlesex... Andrew believed in leading from the front and, under him, we rose to No.1 in Test cricket. He motivated very well and could articulate any moment and take you back to the present, where you needed to be.
Q How would you describe Eoin Morgan, the captain?
A I'm myself, which is probably the best way to be for captains. I'm calm and collected. I like to be emotionally detached from the decisions I take... That has come with experience... I'd like to think I drive the other players with me. If guys are down, I believe I can help them out.
Q As captain, you have transformed England's approach in the ODIs... What exactly is the Morgan Way?
A More than my way it's the modern way. Cricket as a discipline is moving forward at such a pace that everybody can't keep up with it. What you can do is to stay at the top of your game... As a team, we learned a lot from the 2015 World Cup. Teams would regularly chase down targets well in excess of 300, but we weren't able to do so... We set out to be a team not only capable of chasing down targets of 350 or so, but being able to do much more.
Q What became your priority?
A That we should be able to win on the strength of our batting, instead of only relying on our bowlers to do the job. That became our focus... Also, in time, coping with wickets which are slow.
Q Ideal mindset?
A You first need the belief that you can compete with the best. Then, you need the confidence to go out and beat the best. You have to be positive, have to be aggressive.
Q What would you list as the USP of England in ODIs?
A Entertaining cricket. I believe we've made people come and watch us play. For the spectators, it's as good as you can get. Any person who has paid for his/her ticket deserves to see England give off their best... He/she should get value for money. We may not win, but the effort and drive has to be visible.
Q England finished on a record-smashing 481/6, just 19 short of 500, against Australia, only recently... How long did it take you to get over that stunning ODI?
A It was a crazy day at Trent Bridge... However, at the same ground, we'd got 444/3 against Pakistan in 2016. That we almost got 500 wasn't that much of a surprise. I knew we had the capability of getting there or thereabouts, but also knew we'd have to play out of our skin.
Q Huge disappointment at not becoming the first team to get 500 in an ODI...
A No... We had our chance, but didn't get to it. There was a three-over spell when we couldn't get very many. Maybe, we didn't deserve to get 500.
Q Still early days, but favourites for the 2019 World Cup?
A We went into last year's Champions Trophy as the favourites, but lost to eventual winners Pakistan in the semi-final... As a team, we've talked about that tag... Since the Champions Trophy, we have become a better and more versatile ODI team. Wins in the winter, 4-1 against a very strong Australia in Australia and 3-2 in New Zealand, have injected more belief and self-confidence. That helped this summer: 5-0 against Australia and, then, 2-1 versus India. The series against India was more challenging. It was a test for us and the best part is the way the players learned as the matches progressed. As I've said, it's best to stay detached emotionally... Many would regard India as the favourites too and you can never count Pakistan out either. They are strong in tournaments... Look, any team which has won the World Cup in recent times would be a threat to us. Australia, let's not forget, are the defending champions.
Q What's your understanding of favourites?
A It simply means some people are fond of the team. It doesn't change anything at all. Hard work alone gets you the results. You train hard to get to No.1. Once there, you train even harder to stay No.1. The basic processes don't change.
Q Playing at home would be an advantage, but what about the pressure-induced disadvantage?
A That the 2019 World Cup is in England is a huge advantage.
Q The first World Cup match you watched in person...
A West Indies vs Bangladesh in Dublin, in the 1999 edition. It was quite an experience... My eyes were wide open and my jaw dropped when Brian Lara, somebody I have idolised, walked out to bat! I was 12 then.
Q Twenty years on, when the World Cup returns to England, you'll be captaining...
A (Smiles) Would be big, yes. Still 10 months to go... It meant the world to watch the West Indies win in Dublin, it would mean the world to captain England in a World Cup at home.
Q Finally... The purists would like the red-ball-to-white scenario, whereas it is turning out to be the other way...
A White ball to red is becoming more popular because kids are being introduced to cricket through the T20 format. For certain roles in Tests, the skills are definitely transferable. However, that wouldn't work where opening goes. Opening in England has challenges, is demanding. You need an Alastair Cook, you need the mindset of a Cheteshwar Pujara, even though he bats at No.3.
