England's limited-overs captain Eoin Morgan on Thursday (March 11) revealed that Joe Root could be an option for the forthcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2021 later this year in India despite the Test captain not playing a single T20I since May 2019.
As England already has a very strong batting line-up in the T20I cricket, Root has found it really tough to break into their explosive top-order, but Morgan hasn’t yet turned down the chances of England's top scorer in their 2016 World Cup final defeat against West Indies for the upcoming T20 World Cup in India.
The right-hander still has the hopes of making England’s squad for the forthcoming T20 World Cup to be played in October-November in India this year, as the white-ball captain looks at Root as an option. His comments came ahead of the first T20I of the five-match series against India on March 12 (Friday).
Morgan told a news conference in Ahmedabad on Thursday, “When we look back to the 2016 World Cup campaign that led to us going to the final, Joe was a huge part of that.”
The skipper further added, “Due to the schedule restrictions, Joe needs rest. It's a very huge amount of strain doing what he does being our very best batsman and also being Test captain at the same time. Certainly, Joe could be an option come to the World Cup.”
Due to England's controversial rotation policy to keep their multi-format players fresh, Root didn’t have their strongest XI in their recent 3-1 loss in the Test series, but Morgan was given a full-strength squad at his disposal for the T20I series keeping in mind the showpiece event later this year in India.
Reacting to the same, Morgan said: “I think we are very fortunate to have the full strength squad here. Certainly, with one eye on the World Cup in seven months' time, it's an opportunity to try and replicate teams and roles within the side that we might need to iron out before we get to the World Cup.”
He further added, “Given that it's our only opportunity between now and then to get the full squad together due to the demands of the schedule I think it's a really good opportunity to do that.”
The 34-year-old also credited the Indian Premier League (IPL) for the development of the English players as it played a key role in their victorious campaign in the World Cup 2019 at home.
He signed off by saying, “Certainly, the first few times I went to the IPL, I never had gone through an experience like it, and I have learned a huge amount over the years that I have been there.”
(With Reuters Inputs)
