Adapting To Conditions The Biggest Challenge, Admits Eoin Morgan Ahead of Pune ODI
Jan 14, 2017 at 9:19 PM
In the quest to find their lost mojo back, England will take on India in the limited-overs series, starting with first of the three ODIs in Pune on Sunday. Eoin Morgan, England’s ODI skipper, spoke to media in the pre-match conference and said winning in India is a huge challenge but not something which they can’t achieve.
Mentioning South Africa’s dominant show against India in ODIs in 2015 and how New Zealand pushed the bars and made things tough for the host in their previous bilateral series, Morgan said adapting to the conditions in India is arguably the most difficult task.
“The challenge of winning in India is huge, (but) it is one that’s not impossible, it has happened recently. South Africa turned India over, New Zealand pushed them close.”
Opening up about his thoughts on playing in these conditions, Morgan said his side’s stint during the World T20 tournament in India last March will serve as the helping hand and a confidence booster for them.
“I think the thing that we draw from it is the confidence in knowing that we have played in these conditions before.”
During his turn in the pre-match conference, Indian skipper Virat Kohli tagged the English team as fearless which wasn’t approved by Morgan later on. In reply, Morgan said they are more of a unit with aggression and they like to play in their own way.
“I would not say fearless, I would just like to think we like to play in our own way. The players that we have are very outgoing, very expansive and very explosive, and can stick to their natural game which is quite an aggressive game. Trying to be somebody else or trying to be a different team does not work for us. We try to be ourselves and be comfortable within our skins, and I think that has worked.”
Morgan, who scored just three runs in both the practice matches, seemed confident drawing first blood in the series, given some exciting knocks from Sam Billings and Jonny Bairstow in the trail matches lately.
“It’s great that they are in form and it gives us a wide selection option to choose from.”
India will face England in the first match of the series in Pune on January 15.