Eoin Morgan who is England‘s World Cup-winning captain and batting mainstay of KKR believes that “leaders without title” play an equally important role as the designated one if a team intends to travel in the right direction in its pursuit of greatness.
Eoin Morgan is one of the key figures in the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) set-up under Dinesh Karthik’s captaincy and he feels it has worked out well in the first three weeks of Indian Premier League.
Eoin Morgan
Eoin Morgan: Dinesh Karthik And Coach Brendon McCullum Lead Well
Dinesh Karthik is one of the most experienced wicketkeeper-batsman currently in India. He has led KKR to playoffs in 2018. An IPL career tally of 3703 runs with bat besides performing well behind the stumps is testimony to the value the KKR captain brings to the table.
He is yet to fire in IPL 2020 having scored 49 runs in 5 matches at a dismal average of 9.8 which is contrary to his overall average of 26.45.
“I think it has worked really well so far. I think DK and Brendon McCullum lead extremely well within the team,” Morgan told PTI in an exclusive interview.
Dinesh Karthik. Image Credit: Getty Images.
“Within aspect of the rest of the players, we have a number of senior leaders that take on roles that don’t have a title.”
“And within the team, that plays a pivotal part because when other seniors players, apart from captain and coach and vice-captain, lead or take on directions or decisions, it gives absolute clarity for the rest of the team.”
KKR is currently placed fourth on the points table with six points for their three wins.
“Embodying that moving forward is so powerful that it creates intangible things that great teams talk about.” Morgan put forth his view point eloquently.
An Irish-born Englishman who has a reputation for inventive stroke-play, Eoin Morgan has proved to be one of the most innovative players in international cricket. He has spent most of his IPL career with KKR but represented the SunRisers Hyderabad in 2015 and 2016 and played for Kings XI Punjab in 2017. The 2019 World Cup-winning captain makes a return to the Knight Riders in 2020.
Eoin Morgan Enjoys As It’s Fascinating To Watch Cricketers From Various Cultures Talk About Game
Eoin Morgan is an Irishman by birth and has established himself as a respected captain while leading one of the most ethnically diverse cricket teams to global glory and enjoys the atmosphere of the IPL dressing room which brings players from different backgrounds, different languages, converging to create lasting memories.
“I feel sport is always transient but the language you speak when you are playing that sport tends to stay with you.”
“It’s fascinating to watch guys talk about cricket in different languages in the change room.”
The 34-year-old Eoin Morgan also agreed that the evolution of franchise cricket has brought players from different spheres of life closer in a friendly dressing room environment.
Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer. Photo Credit: BCCI/IPL.
He loves the fact that the English cricket fraternity, looks upon IPL as a platform where talent is recognized and players are sought after for brilliant performances.
“Because now some of our players who play in that England shirt are sought after players. Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer, these guys have genuine chances of becoming MVPs every year.”
“That’s the level of confidence that now an English player brings as opposed to before.”
Eoin Morgan is one of the finishers in shorter formats, a skill that he consciously developed to fit into flexible batting orders.
“Experience is worth its weight in gold and I have made most of my experience in probably the last two and half to three years,” he said.
Asked about his batting role in the KKR line-up, Eoin Morgan said that it’s “flexible”, depending on conditions, pitches, and opposition.
“I think middle-order is quite flexible at the moment, depending on what team we play and type of attack we come up against.”
“Different batters are suited to different bowlers and DK and coach are very good at reading what’s the right way to move forward in that regard.”
Eoin Morgan has so far scored 143 runs averaging 47.66 in 5 matches.
