London: England white-ball skipper Eoin Morgan has said that while he wants to contribute to the team’s cause, it would be too early to say whether he would be around to defend the 50-over World Cup, scheduled in India next year.
Morgan, 35, was the captain of the side that won the thrilling World Cup final in 2019 defeating New Zealand after the match ended in a tie at Lord’s.
England begin their build-up to the mega-event with a three-match ODI series next week against the Netherlands, and Morgan said that while he has the country’s best interest in mind, he is going to take his future as it comes.
“That’s (ODI World Cup) a long way away. I need to get to the T20 World Cup first (this year in Australia). I’m going to take it as it comes, managing my contribution, my body. Am I still contributing on and off the field, within the team?” Morgan was quoted as saying by dailymail.co.uk.
“I will be as honest as I have been with everybody since I started the captaincy. At the moment, I still feel like I can contribute to a World Cup win. That’s an important driver for me. I genuinely have the best interests of the team at heart,” he added.
Morgan’s main focus now is to assist new white-ball coach, Australia’s Matthew Mott, to string together a side capable of winning the T20 World Cup in Australia in October-November this year, and then set sights on the 50-over World Cup in October 2023.
England have included some stalwarts of the limited-over games, such as Jason Roy, Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid among others, for the Dutch series and Morgan said it was to “grow that relationship” with the new coach.
“One of the reasons for having our senior guys here is to grow that relationship with the coach,” he said. “We don’t have many opportunities to do that with the likes of Stokes or Bairstow, and I think they are integral to big moments when you need leaders within a World Cup.”
–IANS
Comments are closed.