Stokes and Root should be in England’s Champions Trophy squad: Morgan

Former England skipper Eoin Morgan called for the inclusion of both Ben Stokes and Joe Root in the Three Lions’ squad for the Champions Trophy 2025 in Pakistan. Root has been consistently rested from the white-ball setups to keep him fresh and hungry for the Test season.

But with Stokes, he decided to hang his boots up after England’s disastrous first-round exit in the ODI World Cup 2023 in India. However, since then, Stokes has flirted with a return to the ODI setup, when he said he was only one ‘call away’ from Brendon McCullum, who was elevated as England’s all-format coach. 

"Ben Stokes has already said that he hasn't had the call yet from Baz as to whether he will play or not," Morgan said at the launch of the International Masters League, reported ESPNCricinfo.

"If that call comes, obviously he would love to play. In my eyes, they've got to come into a major world tournament and look to win it, and that means trying to find the best team - and for me, Stokes and Root are in that best team,” he added. 

As recently as last month, England fought toe-to-toe against Australia at home in the five-match ODI series. England re-discovering their fire in the white-ball format certainly pleased Morgan, the pioneer of the country’s white-ball revolution.

"At the moment, I'm happy to back the younger players. In the recent series against Australia, they found a template. Australia, you have to commend how good they are at the moment in all formats of the game. But when you put them up against a side that, at stages, didn't have [Jofra] Archer, no Wood, Stokes and Root as well, no Buttler, that's half your England team,” he said. 

"The run chase at Durham, when Harry Brook scored that magnificent hundred and then just went on to find his feet as captain… the template that they found in that game, I thought, is one that really suits the players that they've selected. I would encourage them to continue with that template and look ahead to the Champions Trophy."

It will be interesting to see if Stokes does indeed return to England’s ODI scheme of things after his struggles with injury, most recently a hamstring pull that has kept him away from England’s playing 11 in the first Test against Pakistan. 

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