Renaissance man? : England white ball captain Eoin Morgan gestures alongside teammate Chris Jordan during their recent campaign at the ICC T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates.
Image credit: AFP
Dubai: Eoin Morgan’s role in English cricket, once completed and sprinkled with his international career, will be special. He could easily be seen as some sort of Renaissance man who led the white ball revolution in his country for the past six years – led them to their first 50-year ICC World Cup and brought them together. of the T20 world trophy both in the last editions.
The 35-year-old, however, wants to wear such stature on his sleeves as he is now in the middle of his current assignment – being part of the Delhi Bulls led by Dwayne Bravo in the ongoing fifth edition of the Abu Dhabi T10 League at the United Arab Emirates.
When asked if he was aware of his stature, Morgan told the Delhi Bulls media in a freewheeling interview, “That’s a huge compliment, I didn’t think about it. The biggest compliment for me and my team is that during Covid this summer 15 team members went into isolation and we had to choose a whole new team that not only played well against a full Pakistani team but they came out and played the brand of cricket that we played. Me and my wife were watching the game. I called Jos (Buttler) and other guys and I said to them, “Damn, this is amazing, this is awesome at look. “That’s how it should be when people look at us.” It doesn’t matter what name is written on the back of the shirt.
It’s really a far cry from the days before the 2015 World Cup, when England were barely considered among the favorites in a world white ball event. “ What we have achieved over the past six years is to create more expectations around us because now we have been considered favorites or second favorites in tournaments for years and years in my career. Even in the 2010 T20 World Cup we won in the West Indies, we were a complete afterthought. Since we took part in the Trophée des Champions in 2017, we are the favorites. We know we have a chance to win, it is not false hope or false anticipation. Both of those things are huge compliments to what we’ve accomplished as a group. ”
Barely a week had passed since Morgan’s England, who were on the lookout for favorites until they were kicked at the post by New Zealand in the semi-final, focused now on the work to be done in the capital of the United Arab Emirates. When asked how mentally difficult it is to get over the disappointment of not going the distance, he replied, “I think about the way you deal with things and understand them and play games. A good example is the IPL campaign at Kolkata Knight Riders this season. At the start of the league we won two out of seven, we weren’t well and struggled as a team, then Covid hit, we all went home, then six months later we joined the campaign in the United Arab Emirates and we had all the way to the final. The guys came with a new mindset, ambition, and a better understanding. A lot has to do with confidence, feeling comfortable with your own team and trying to get back into the tournament. ”
As someone who has seen it and done this, do aspects of the harbor master’s office remain the same both for England and as a franchise? ” Here, I think, both have their challenges and when you talk about running your country it’s normally over a longer period, you build longer and stronger bonds over the years, maybe to a World Cup or a Champions Trophy or maybe a test series or as going into any franchise team and leading over the time frame, however short or long it is, and you are trying to achieve that collective goal. but trying to work with what you have at the time, so in franchise cricket, there are also a lot of challenges just different from what you have in international cricket.
Looking ahead to the Delhi Bulls’ campaign, where they got off to a winning start on the tournament’s opening night on Friday, Morgan seemed optimistic about a strong campaign under Bravo. “ Bravo is one of the most experienced T20 cricketers in the world, if not the most, you think how long he’s been around and how many matches he’s played and the biggest factor that he’s a winner and has won competitions across the world and also won the T20 World Cup, so he’s going to be essential and hopefully successful.
On opening night, the Delhi Bulls beat defending champions Northern Warriors by six wickets in the Abu Dhabi T10 opener while the Abu Dhabi team beat the Bangla Tigers by 40 points .
