England captain Eoin Morgan believes that his team has the right “ability and confidence” to win the ICC Champions Trophy this summer.
The hosts are one of the strong favourites to win the tournament as they have been performing consistently over the last two years. England have established themselves as one of the strongest contenders for the trophy as they possess arguably the most balanced team going into Champions Trophy.
The English team will now take on Ireland in a two ODI series starting on May 5 as part of preparations and Eoin Morgan has hailed his team’s achievements after their disappointing 2015 ICC World Cup campaign where they were knocked out in group stages.
Morgan told Sky Sports News HQ: “I am extremely proud of the team, where we have come from in the last two years, and the confidence we have built.
“We have tried to build a culture around the team that allows guys to go out and express themselves, play with a no-fear aspect to the game.
“We were a long way behind the eight-ball in regards to where the very best were and where we were.
“It has been an amazing ride so far, but we are only coming up to the halfway stage.
“The Champions Trophy in June is something that we are really looking forward to. We have earmarked it as a good gauge to see where we are at as a side.
“The goal is always to win, and I certainly think we have the ability and the confidence in the side to win that tournament.
“We have done some fantastic things against some very good sides.”
The southpaw also believes the exposure to Indian Premier League is helping players develop their skills and have singled out Ben Stokes who has been their most important player over the past couple of years.
“That’s a huge step towards our success in 2019,” he added. “We have been behind trends in the past, I think at the moment we are about level par.
“Ben Stokes almost sets a new trend as an English player.”
England have the likes of Bangladesh, New Zealand and Australia in their group and will start their campaign against Bangladesh on June 1 at Kennington Oval, London.