Twitter
Advertisement

World T20: 'We stick together as a side, we share the pain, we share the success,' Eoin Morgan

There was nothing that Morgan could find fault with his bowlers for the four-wicket loss in the final.

Latest News
article-main
Eoin Morgan
FacebookTwitterWhatsappLinkedin

It was anti-climax for England in the World T20 to the process that began after the 2015 Cricket World Cup, where Eoin Morgan and Co. did not progress beyond the first round. They began to play an aggressive style of cricket. Morgan’s young bunch of cricketers were willing to put aside personal goals and do it collectively for the team.

Joe Root has been an integral part of the England set up. But, for what has been happening quite repeatedly this year to him, Root must be wondering what more he has to do to see his team cross the line. In South Africa early this year, he scored two back-to-back ODI centuries and yet England lost. On Sunday in the World T20 final, he scored 36-ball 54 when the chips were down and yet his team ended as the runners-up to the West Indies.

“Joe is an incredibly talented cricketer, he keeps things incredibly simple, (has) great temperament, (is) able to adapt to any situation. Today (Sunday), he controlled himself brilliantly while we were losing wickets,” was all England captain Eoin Morgan offered when asked what Root must be going through after his top-scores finish on the losing side.

The Ireland-born left-handed batsman put up a brave face after the match, the fortunes of which swung like a pendulum. England thought they had the World T20 title in their grasp until the 19 overs of the West Indies run-chase when 19 were needed off the last over.

Ben Stokes’s first ball was swung by Carlos Brathwaite over square leg for a six. Second ball was also a six over long-on. Third ball sailed over long-off and the scores were level. Brathwaite sent the fourth ball also into the long-on stands and England did not realise what had hit them.

“It takes some beating, definitely. One of the other games I can relate to that’s been like this is South Africa (Super-10 fixture in Mumbai). At the halfway stage, you like to think that anything is possible, and you get it down to the wire and I’m sure the South Africans feel the same after we chased down 230,” Morgan said, maintaining his composure. 

There was nothing that Morgan could find fault with his bowlers for the four-wicket loss in the final. “We were exceptional, there was a tremendous amount of belief at the halfway stage that we’d put a score on the board and we were right in the game. But we let ourselves down tremendously with the bat, I thought we were terrible, probably 40 short, it was a 180-190 wicket, I thought both sides let themselves down with the bat but in the World Cup you make what you can of it,” he said.

It will take a while for Stokes to come to terms with what happened in the final over. Morgan said: “He is going to be devastated, and it’ll take its toll over the next couple of days, but we share everything that we do. We stick together as a side, we share the pain, we share the success. In the future, I personally think we will. This side is at the very beginning of its progression, it’s actually frightening to think what we can do if we achieve our potential, but certainly tonight we share the pain.

“I’m not quite sure what I’m feeling at the moment, you’re not sure if it has actually happened, today I’ve felt a range of different emotions, particularly after batting and getting a score on the board and then it was going pretty smoothly. You could compare it to the 2013 Champions Trophy when we were in a commanding position and lost the game, though conditions beat us that day more than anything.”

Morgan was still proud of what he and his team have achieved in this tournament. Their only two losses came against the West Indies – first in the Super-10 stage and then the title clash. “Am very proud of the players, regardless of what happened today (Sunday). It was about letting ourselves go out and play with the freedom today that we have trusted ourselves with all tour. This is the beginning of something I am hoping will be special, we have a great amount of talent to work with and I hope we can keep this group of players together as long as we can and look to the future.”

Find your daily dose of news & explainers in your WhatsApp. Stay updated, Stay informed-  Follow DNA on WhatsApp.
Advertisement

Live tv

Advertisement
Advertisement