ENG vs IND 2018: We were clinical in our performance at Headingley, says Eoin Morgan 

Morgan is all praise for his team, having won the series 2-1.

England won the series 2-1. (Getty)

England Captain, Eoin Morgan has come out and said that he is very happy with the way his side clinched the 3-match ODI series against India and hailed the overall performance on the day of the series decider at Headingley as nothing short of clinical and thoroughly professional. 

Looking at the clouds hovering around and a surface that on most days would befriend fast bowlers, Eoin Morgan decided to bowl first and it paid off huge dividends, as they restricted India to a very modest total of 256. 

England then raced their way to the target and on the back of a fine start from Jonny Bairstow and James Vince and Eoin Morgan's able support to a fantastic Joe Root innings of 100 from 120 balls.

Having won the series 2-1, Morgan said at the post-match press conference, “We started poorly. As the series has gone on we have improved. It is a benefit of playing a bilateral series, That constant improvement has been brilliant since Trent Bridge. Today, I thought it was clinical, right from the get-go. Mark Wood got the ball swinging with David Willey for three or four overs and India never seemed to get away from us from there,” 

“I think it is extremely encouraging (for the Test series). The composure he’s shown, particularly in the last two games, is the Joe Root we know and trust. He’s been outstanding even when he’s been low on runs, around the group he’s been the same guy, hungry for runs and hopefully, that continues for the rest of the summer,”

When asked if Root is the right up there with the best, Morgan said, “I think it’s difficult to say because we’ve guys that were halfway through their careers that have huge potential that can be as good as Joe or even be better or has more contributions. If it’s not the next World Cup, it will be the next. Guys in their late 20s and mid-to-late 20s can still contribute as much as Joe has done. (But) He’s an absolutely unbelievable cricketer.”

Talking about the change in England's fortunes against Indian wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav and the success of Adil Rashid, Morgan added, “It’s hard for me to compare red ball and white ball because it’s different picking the seam on the ball. I’m very proud of the way we’ve improved throughout. But, Kuldeep hasn’t played that many games, I’m sure they’ll come back with something different."

“Adil Rashid has been at the top of his game for the last few years, but he’s made unbelievable changes, fractional changes, variations and he reads the game well,” 

Morgan signed off by talking about how good a preparation a series like this was for his team with the ICC Cricket World Cup less than a year away. 

”...be better at dealing with them (the challenges) from the start as opposed to making big mistakes and, then, improving on them as we go along. The World Cup is 10 games. I presume by the time the last group stage game is played it will be the best four teams topping the group."

“One of the disadvantages is you play a different team every time and that’s hard to replicate. The challenge will be trying to show the consistency that we’ve had and continue that hunger to improve. We have a lot of white-ball cricket leading into the World Cup,”

(Inputs from SPORTSTAR Live)

 
 

By Kashish Chadha - 18 Jul, 2018

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