Morgan sees bigger picture as England face fight for No1 spot
Eoin Morgan is unconcerned about the possibility of England losing top spot in the one-day international rankings as the limited-overs captain revealed he is a doubt for his side’s next match against India in Pune due to injury.
India won the first of three ODIs between the top two ranked nations, with England unable to capitalise on Jonny Bairstow’s dashing 94 from 66 ballsastheycollapsedfrom135 for nought to 251 all out to lose by 66 runs.
Acleansweepwouldleadto England being usurped from the number one position they have held in the table for much ofthelastthreeyears,butatypically pragmatic Morgan is unfazedattheprospectashesees the bigger picture.
He said: “We don’t guard it at all, it’s not something that we talk about in the changing room. Everything is built towardsplanningbeingcompetitive at a World Cup and trying to improve our skills over that period of time.
“It’s about building a group of players that hopefully will bring something really top quality in a World Cup.
“We’re already at the stage where we can compete but obviously building on top of that and tweaking as we go along is a hugely important factor because you become exposed to different situations. Then you gain points of reference the whole way along your journey and try to re-engage with themifyouexperiencethemin a World Cup situation.”
England’s defeat was compoundedbyinjuriestoMorgan and Sam Billings. Morgan requiredfourstitchesonhisright hand after splitting the webbing between his thumb and index finger while in the field.
Billings landed awkwardly ontheleftshoulderhehadpreviously dislocated, necessitating surgery which ruled him out of England’s triumphant 2019WorldCupcampaign,and
itwasrevealedhehadsprained his collar bone joint.
Both were able to bat in England’s doomed pursuit of India’s 317 for five but the injuriesplaceaquestionmarkover their availabilities for Friday’s penultimate encounter.
Morgan said: “It’s never going to be at 100 per cent but it’s notthatIcan’tholdabat.We’re going to wait 48 hours and see how it is.
“It’stwodifferentinstances; whenyouhaveasplitwebbing, fielding is a concern and with Sam, landing while he’s fielding. We’re going to wait a while and to give us as much time as needed.”
Bairstow and Jason Roy (46) laid the foundations with an explosive opening partnership but they were ultimately bundled out in 42.1 overs – and while Morgan accepted England
were below-par, he was enthused by their intent.
He said: “We were all playing attacking, positive options which is a nice insight into the mindset of guys, the way they play. If we were all getting out plodding or playing defensively, there would be a bigger issue.
“I really think we’re a dangerous side to play against, particularly the way we went about our business for the majority of the game. If we’d have played really well and been on topformwe’dhavechasedthat total down in no time. But that wasn’t meant to be.”
Amid Bairstow and Roy’s onslaught at the start of England’s chase, Shreyas Iyer suffered a “subluxated” shoulder – a partial dislocation – while fielding which is likely to rule himoutoftherestoftheseries.