Eoin Morgan says his team is “gathering momentum nicely” as the last edition’s runners-up hope to improve on their showing in the upcoming T20 World Cup.
Moved out of India due to the threat posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the mega event will be held in the UAE and Oman from October 17 to November 14.
Eoin Morgan: England’s Biggest Strength Is The Consistency
EoinMorgan, whose team won the last edition of the tournament in 2016, has stressed the importance of continuing to play in the manner they have in the last two years.
“I think our biggest strength is the consistency with which we’ve performed at over the last two years. I think in T20 cricket because the game can change quite quickly and there’s a huge group of talented teams within our group, I think every game is important to us,” said Morgan during a chat with the ICC on Friday.
The 34-year-old skipper feels adapting to the conditions in the UAE, where England has not played a T20 International since 2015, will be one of the key factors for them in the tournament.
“I think we’re gathering momentum nicely, and the important side to that from our perspective is that we’re continuously trying to get better and learn as we go on, simply because the tournament is held away from home. We’re really looking forward to it.”
England will enter the upcoming men’s ICC T20 World Cup as one of the favourites to lift the trophy and limited-overs skipper Eoin Morgan believes that his team’s biggest strength is consistency.
As the rest of the world marveled at a West Indian World Cup win against all the odds in 2016, England responded to their heart-breaking defeat by forming an all-conquering white ball outfit. Claiming the Cricket World Cup in 2019 at home, England can complete a rare double, all while righting the wrongs of that night in Kolkata.
Eoin Morgan has confirmed his participation in the second leg of the Indian Premier League, which was postponed earlier this year after 29 games due to a spate of Covid-19 cases in the camps of four different teams across two cities. The rescheduled season will commence in the UAE in September, where the remaining 31 games will be played across three venues (Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Sharjah).
England Finished Runners Up As West Indies Won The 2016 T20I World Cup The Last Time T20I WC Was Held
In 2016, England finished runners-up as Carlos Brathwaite smashed four consecutive sixes off Ben Stokes in a dramatic last over of the final to take the West Indies to a title triumph.
“The evolution of T20 cricket and the role it’s played in our great game is hugely significant for the development of the game and the popularity of the game. It’s huge. It’s been a long time coming. We haven’t had one since 2016,” said Eoin Morgan.
South Africa and Australia join England and the West Indies in Group 1 of the Super 12s along with the two yet-to-be-determined qualifiers from Round 1 for this year’s men’s T20 World Cup. England will open their campaign in the 2021 edition of the tournament against the West Indies in Abu Dhabi on October 23.
England will play arch-rivals Australia on October 30 at Dubai International Stadium and will face South Africa in Sharjah on November 6. Incidentally, the 2021 men’s T20 World Cup is slated to kick off from October 17 in the UAE two days after the Indian Premier League (IPL) final.