OPINION
Follow UsIn the last seven years if there’s one team that has revolutionized ODI cricket it has to be England and the credit for that goes to Eoin Morgan. The high-octane cricket has enthralled the audience all around and had culminated in England not just becoming a powerhouse in white-ball cricket as we know them today, but also gave them the coveted World Cup title that had eluded them for decades.
With Morgan calling it a day from international cricket, it is certainly an end of an era, but also the beginning of a new one under Jos Buttler, who has played a pivotal role in England becoming a force to be reckoned with under Morgan.
Morgan’s slump in form especially since 2021, not just in international cricket, but also in franchise T20 leagues is not something that one associates with him. Despite that, his leadership qualities, his precise decision-making abilities and moreover, his astute reading of the game did not take a hit as he managed to take Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to the IPL final in 2021, taking over the reins midway.
However, his primary role in the side – that of a batter – was letting him down despite there not being any evidence of cracks or leaks in his captaincy credentials.
Many like Morgan have come up through the ranks in Ireland cricket and played for England, but none made quite the impact like him.
Right from a young age, he had never hidden the fact that he had always wanted to play for England. However, his dream of representing the country would only be realised in 2009 after he had played 23 ODIs for Ireland.
"From the age of 13, I wanted to play cricket for England. I’ve never felt any shame in saying this is what I wanted to do. And the people at home involved in cricket, they were like, 'Fair play, it's going to be unbelievable if you make it'. So I’ve never had any shame about this and my father's never had any shame about it,” Morgan had said in 2010.
Before taking over as captain on a full-time basis, Morgan had led England a handful of times, but was tipped to be a future leader. He got his chance just three months ahead of the 2015 World Cup, following Alastair Cook’s sacking.
What followed was a disastrous performance by England in the mega event, but it was the start of something big. Morgan set out to make some drastic changes which included removal of their leading wicket-taker James Anderson, Ian Bell, Stuart Broad, Ravi Bopara among others.
Bunch of fresh players along with a new approach was the mantra for England as they looked to build a dominant team that would perhaps take them to glory.
In the first ODI since the World Cup, England had amassed 408 against New Zealand, which was certainly the start of things to come. England over the next seven years would on three occasions set new world records for the highest totals in ODI cricket.
Fearless batting became the theme for England as they went after the bowling right from the beginning, regardless of the situation with Morgan playing a pivotal role, largely at four.
A glue that would keep the innings together, build partnerships, resurrect the innings if needed, set a platform, and if needed, finish the innings off in a flurry. Morgan built a force so dominant they made scores in the excess of 300 a child's game.
What’s more staggering is out of the 50 times England scored over 300 in ODIs since the 2015 World Cup, 11 have come in successful chases, which is as many times as Australia, India and Pakistan combined. They are also the only team to have scored at a run-rate of over six in this time frame.
With the same mindset, England went on with their business in T20Is as well and came agonisingly close in 2016, but sadly, it wasn’t their night at Eden Gardens, despite being the better side in 39 out of the 40 overs. Walking in as one of the favourites in 2021, England faltered in the semis against New Zealand.
We often laud MS Dhoni for the way he conducted himself on the field when he was leading India. You could not for a second make out if he was happy with the team’s performance or whether his team had won or lost. Morgan is no different. It is his cool head that got him all the success over the last 7-8 years and that has slowly trickled down to the rest of his teammates, who have made England one of the feared teams in white-ball cricket today.
Much like Dhoni, Morgan too was handed the captaincy of a team in tatters and had to make some harsh calls when it came to team selection and approach. Both were vindicated when they would go on to win the World Cup over the next 3-4 years.
The captain-coach relationship is key, be it in any sport, and like Dhoni found an able ally in Gary Kirsten, Morgan had Trevor Bayliss with him through the transitional phase and eventually led them to the ultimate glory.
Fast forward to 2021 and Morgan’s downfall began. He scored just 103 runs at 25.75 from five ODI innings and has gone 36 T20 innings without a fifty in this period.
While the England batters were scoring runs for fun in the ODI series against the Netherlands, Morgan registered two ducks and missed the third game due to a groin injury. Morgan has been subject to quite a few injuries in recent times, which also includes a low-grade quadriceps injury during the West Indies T20Is earlier this year.
“If I don’t think I am good enough or I don’t feel I am contributing to the team, then I will finish,” Morgan had said earlier after the series against the Netherlands.
He burst onto the international scene getting run-out for 99 and calls time on it with a painful seven-ball duck. Between those two innings, he leaves behind a legacy that would be hard to forget or replicate.
