Abu Dhabi: England skipper Eoin Morgan aspires to continue leading the squad at the Twenty20 World Cup in Australia in 2022, after his side was eliminated from this year’s tournament after a five-wicket loss to New Zealand in the semifinals in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.
Morgan happens to be one of the most successful captains in the shortest format of the game. The English limited-overs skipper has won the most games as a T20I captain. It was in the ongoing T20 World Cup where he surpassed MS Dhoni and Asghar Afghan to become the most successful T20I captain with 43 wins.
Morgan, who led England to 50-over World Cup glory in 2019, has played more than 100 T20 internationals for the team. England were looking solid in this edition of the tournament but failed to live up to the expectations as they reached the semi-finals only to get knocked out by the New Zealand.
After their defeat, he was asked if he would like to continue leading the side to which Morgan said “I hope so. I am still offering enough within the side. I absolutely love playing cricket at the moment,” Morgan was quoted as saying to ESPNCricinfo.
“The guys give everything. They’re at the forefront of change on and off the field and we’ve a lot of things to be proud about – I’m incredibly proud to be the leader,” Morgan added.
Morgan could not fault his side for their efforts against New Zealand. After sent in to bat, England posted 166 for 4 with Moeen Ali remaining not out on 51. The Black Caps chased down the target with one over to spare with opener Daryl Mitchell playing a pivotal role with an unbeaten 47-ball 72.
“Coming into the game we knew both sides were very close in skill and both play a great brand in cricket. Full credit to Kane and his team, they outplayed us today. Unfortunately in a tight game, we have come off on the wrong end of the stick.” the England skipper added.
“I can’t fault anything that we have done tonight. We’ve fought unbelievably hard throughout this tournament. I think we’ve represented ourselves really well and tonight we have continued to do the same thing and we have come up short.”
“Yeah, we’re devastated. To be on the wrong side of a close game is not easy to take. We fought unbelievably well on a wicket that didn’t necessarily suit our batting, but we managed to post in and around a par score. I’m extremely proud of the performance that we put in. When you play really well, it doesn’t always guarantee that you win games. Unfortunately, we found ourselves on the wrong side of a really tight game today.” Morgan asserted.
Morgan also admitted the conditions had not really suited his side, although he did praise the way Neesham coped with them as he changed the game.
“We’re a six-hitting side and we like hitting sixes and we struggled to hit sixes. I think that’s a pretty good indication of the wicket, potentially a bit two-paced, offering a little bit for the spinners, but we hung in there. We changed the game plan, we adapted to conditions and posted probably around a par score. So we felt right in the game at the halfway stage. I think given the start we had, taking early wickets it couldn’t have been any better.” he concluded.
