England captain Eoin Morgan on Thursday (July 15) said that there will be more player rotation in the upcoming three-match T20I series against Pakistan starting on Friday (July 16) at Trent Bridge in Nottingham.
As the Pakistan T20I series will be England's last series before the deadline to submit the squad for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021, Morgan said the hosts will try out the fringe players in the series to look at options for this year’s showpiece event in the UAE and Oman later this year.
Ben Stokes who captained England to a 3-0 ODI series win has been rested from the T20Is series. On the other hand, Jofra Archer isn’t also returning from the elbow surgery this week and Reece Topley remains injured and Morgan said there will be injury replacements for certain players against Pakistan.
As reported by ESPNcricinfo, Morgan stated ahead of the first T20I: “Not knowing what is ahead of ourselves, we need to look more into a little bit more into strength in depth. You will see us giving opportunities and going through various little options in the next three games for possible injury replacements for certain players within the group.”
He added, “100 percent [there will be more rotation]. The priority throughout the series will be to give guys opportunities and treating it as though it is our last chance to look at guys in various positions. I still think the roles will be the same, but there will be rotation throughout the squad.”
On being asked whether ODI series stars James Vince and Saqib Mahmood will play in the T20I series, the England captain said: “They have done themselves the world of good, to be honest. The one thing you look at when guys come in and out is a marked improvement from the time they [first] get the opportunity to the time the next opportunity arrives.”
He further explained, “The two guys mentioned and [James Vince] were outstanding. I think everybody within the group was extremely proud to watch them play like they did, simply because it's the biggest compliment you can pay to anybody who played in the World Cup group, and the way we have played in the last five years has had such an impact on the game.
Guys recognize that opportunities are few and far between but when they do come, the method that the team plays is starting to resonate with people around the country, which is great.”
On Stokes, Morgan said: “He dug us out of a huge hole coming back early from his injury and I think leading the way he did is a huge compliment to the leader he is within our side, how mature he has been as a leader and now a captain. We gave him every chance to be fit.”
He signed off by saying, “He has not played a lot of cricket and he's had some R and R [rest and relaxation] at home and feels quite fresh. The finger has not come along as he and the medical team would have liked, so it is important it is as good as it can be for the Test matches against India.”
(With ANI Inputs)
