Before the ODI and T20 series against India, the England team can get a big setback. Ireland-born Eoin Morgan, who revolutionized England’s ODI cricket, is likely to retire from international cricket this week, reports The Guardian. Jos Buttler or Moeen Ali are expected to be appointed as the captain of the ODI and T20 teams after Eoin Morgan retires.
Eoin Morgan has been battling poor form for some time now. Eoin Morgan failed to open his account in his last two international matches against the Netherlands. He missed the third match of the series due to a groin injury. He could score only two fifties in his last 28 international innings in white ball cricket.
Eoin Morgan was not bought by anyone even in the mega auction for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022. The special thing is that in IPL 2021, under his leadership, Kolkata Knight Riders, co-owned by Shah Rukh Khan, played the final of the tournament.
Eoin Morgan told Sky Sports ahead of the Netherlands series, ‘If I don’t think I’m good enough or I don’t think I can contribute to the team, I’ll retire.’ Eoin Morgan will turn 36 in September this year. Eoin Morgan led England to win the ODI World Cup for the first time in 2019. He has been a transformative figure in the history of England cricket. However, he has not scored a fifty in any format of the game since July 1 last year.
Eoin Morgan took over the captaincy of the ODI team from Alastair Cook ahead of the 2015 World Cup in Australia. Although the England team could not do much in that 2015 World Cup, Morgan persisted and along with former head coach Trevor Bayliss was successful in revolutionizing England’s one-day cricket.
When he was not selected for the IPL, he spoke to the newspaper ‘The Evening Standard’ about it. Eoin Morgan said, ‘It is a fact that I did not score enough runs. I see it as a challenge…. I will use this break to recharge as well as work on things you don’t have time to work on during competition….
He had said, ‘I thought my best chance was in the second round (of the IPL auction). If anyone needs as reserve middle order, experienced player, captain or any other. But by the time the first round was over, almost every team had completed their requirements, so I had no chance.
The fitness of Eoin Morgan, who played for 13 years with England and three years for Ireland before that, has been a matter of concern in recent months. He got injured while playing a T20 match for England in the Caribbean tour in January. Will no longer play matches for Middlesex. Eoin Morgan said last month, ‘It takes a long time to recover. I think I am old now.’