The white ball English men’s cricket team have undergone a sea change in the past 6 years. Their playing philosophy, ability to conquer tall chases have all made them the best ODI team.
Their biggest success came when they won the ICC ODI World Cup in 2019 at home. This was the first time that the team lifted the world cup. For a country that invested the game, they took more than a century to win the world cup. A lot of credit for the win was thanks to the herculean effort by Eoin Morgan.
Built a team from the lowest point
The limited over’s team of England seemed to have hit rock bottom in 2015 when they were knocked out of the ODI world cup in Australia. Their performance was abysmal and they put up a poor show before Bangladesh. Post the world cup, the captaincy was handed over to Morgan and he was given the task of rebuilding the team and making them fit to compete for the next world cup.
In the next 4 years, he picked up players and built a strong cohesive unit which dominated the limited overs game. He captained the team to the 2016 ICC T20I world cup finals and narrowly lost. However, the team kept no stone unturned for the 2019 ICC world cup.
A fall from grace
There is no doubt that Morgan has been England’s best white ball captain. He has also been a gun middle-order batsman. However, today, his form and fitness is found wanting to match the standards and demands of international cricket.
In the last 12 months, he has struggled to put up runs on the board and has been weighing the overall performance of the team down. By his own admission, he feels his body is “fragile”. He stated, ” If I don’t think I am good enough or I don’t feel I am contributing to the team, then I will finish.”
A stellar record
Morgan will be leaving the team on a high. He has played close to 250 ODIs and 115 T20Is. He has scored 2 centuries, 3 fifties in Tests, 14 centuries, 47 fifties in ODIs and 14 fifties in T20Is. There are reports of Jos Butler taking the mantle from him and continue the glorious chapter of English cricket.
