AHMEDABAD: England limited-overs skipper Eoin Morgan has said that he is hoping to see turning pitches for the upcoming five-match T20I series against India.
India and England would be locking in five T20Is, beginning Friday at the Narendra Modi Stadium. The pitches in the recently-concluded Test series came a huge debating point, but Morgan said that the pitches would not be exactly the same as they were in Tests, but he indeed expects them to take spin.
“We’ve been in great form in T20 cricket. We’ve had some confidence along the way and picked up some serious wins over the last two years, which is great. But also we need to develop our game and go into a World Cup with as few weaknesses as possible. I think having the strongest squad available to us, which doesn’t really happen that often, allows us to play around with any plans we might foresee using in the World Cup as well,” ESPNcricinfo quoted Morgan as saying.
“I wouldn’t say we’re hoping for similar pitches to the Test series. I’d say we’re hoping for turning pitches. We know when we play on a really flat surface, our batting department is equipped, our bowling department is still learning and it’s more challenging the better the wicket we play on. But in low-scoring T20 games we do need to get better, so we’re looking forward to the challenge,” he added.
Further talking about pitches, Morgan said: “Day four or fay five-Test pitches aren’t going to be ideal playing a T20 game on, but a turning pitch like we witnessed in 2016 – where 120 plays 90; very low-scoring games in this day and age – it’s an area we need more experience in because we’ve not played in a lot of games like that.”
“Would we welcome the learning experience that extreme conditions could bring? Yes. It’s not the sole purpose for being here, but we are going to use it that way. I think this tour is going to be a challenge for everybody – batting, bowling, and fielding – but one that we’re really looking forward to,” he added.
Earlier this week, England head coach Chris Silverwood had said that a final call on Jofra Archer’s availability in the T20I series will be decided by the medical team, but Morgan has now suggested that the pacer has fully recovered from his elbow injury.
“I am hopeful Jofra will be fit for the whole series. If the game was tomorrow he’d be fit. We obviously have two days of training to come through, but hopefully, he’s good. Obviously, we’re playing five games on the same ground. We don’t know yet if we’re playing on the same surfaces twice or a number of times. But I imagine our team selection will evolve as we see it,” said Morgan.
“Game on game, if we think of anything that might arise down the line that we think is worth running through or simulating here, we’ll do it. Everybody’s available for selection,” he added.
England’s T20I squad: Eoin Morgan, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Jason Roy, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Jonny Bairstow, Sam Billings, Jofra Archer, Chris Jordon, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood, Reece Topley