Irishman Eoin Morgan, who is credited with revolutionizing the white-ball cricket for the England team, is likely to retire from international cricket this week The Guardian reported. Having made his international debut for Ireland in 2006, Morgan switched allegiances to England in 2009.
The reason behind this is a combination of Morgan battling poor batting form and his ongoing struggles with fitness. In his last two games for England, against the Netherlands, he picked up a couple of ducks. In his last 28 international innings in white-ball cricket, he has made just two fifties.
“If I don’t think I am good enough or I don’t feel I am contributing to the team, then I will finish,” Morgan had told Sky Sports ahead of the Netherlands series.
Eoin Morgan was made England captain in white-ball cricket on the eve of ICC World Cup 2015 when he replaced Alastair Cook. And, though that campaign failed, he held on to the role and became the catalyst for a revolution alongside the former head coach Trevor Bayliss.
He and Bayliss transformed England into a white-ball monster team leading to them lifting their maiden 50-over World Cup in 2019 at home. England also holds the record for the top three highest team totals in ODI cricket the most recent being 498 against the Netherlands.
Should Morgan call time on one or both formats, the expectation is that Jos Buttler would step up as captain, having been a vice-captain since 2015 and led the team 13 times. Moeen Ali, another to deputize in recent times, would also be a candidate.
If the time has indeed come in both formats, Morgan would step aside with nearly 7,000 runs and 13 centuries for England from 225 ODIs, and just shy of 2,500 runs from 115 T20s. He also won 16 Test caps between 2010 and 2012, scoring two centuries.
(The Guardian Inputs)
