Ryan Sidebottom believes Eoin Morgan has every chance of following up victory in the 50-over World Cup trophy with a second global title.
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Former England pacer Ryan Sidebottom believes that Eoin Morgan could be considered England’s best-ever captain if he leads the nation on to a triumph in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2021. Morgan spearheaded the nation’s triumph in the 2019 ODI World Cup, having struggled to make much of an impact in the 2015 edition. England’s campaign in the T20 World Cup will begin with a clash against West Indies on Saturday.
“Arguably he would be the greatest captain England has ever had, in terms of success on a global level and what he has brought to the England unit. All of those great captains were fantastic man managers and that’s the beauty of Morgy, he gets the best out of every single player. You can clearly see they love playing for him. He knows them inside out, how they feel on the day and what they need at any time. You can see what a calming influence he is – never gets flustered, never shakes his head or shrugs his shoulders. He’s always cool under pressure, no matter what, and I think that rubs off on his bowlers particularly,” said Sidebottom as quoted by Sky Sports.
“When you’ve got a captain who backs you it just means so much to a player, whether it’s your first game or your 100th game. He speaks very, very well, he knows how he wants his players to be perceived and there’s his batting style. With everything he brings to the table, could he be the greatest captain England has had? Most definitely,” he added.
Sidebottom played a key role in England’s triumph in the 2010 edition of the T20 World Cup. Morgan enjoys the presence of two top left-armers in the form of David Willey and Tymal Mills.
“That variation at the top of the order and at the death is huge. It makes it much more difficult for the batsmen. I think England have seen left-armers have become one of the best options in competitions around the world and now they’re using it more regularly. You have Dave Willey, a genuine wicket-taker in the powerplay, and Tymal is someone England have been crying out for,” he said.
“He has different types of skills – from 90mph to a big change-up and he’s going to be a huge part of this England line-up. There are definite similarities between this team and ours in the style of cricket, but they are so much better, stronger and more athletic than we are. It wouldn’t surprise me if England win the trophy. That would be amazing after the last few years with Covid and everything else, to win another global tournament and get that feelgood factor back again,” added the former England pacer.
Former Australian cricketer Matthew Hayden has backed Morgan to make his presence felt, hailing the manner in which he marshalled the troops and conducted himself during the recently concluded Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021.
‘Babar obviously you know has his own role to play not only in term of leadership because as you have seen through the IPL the two dominant captains here in the UAE MS Dhoni, world cup winner, Eoin Morgan, worldcup winner, even though there individual performances weren’t as good as they have previously done within their own statistical records but the way they lead their troops and conduct themselves is an important part of UAE, because as I mentioned that it’s not that one side is going to run away with other it’s a real dog fight, the conditions and the margins of error are very little and so good leadership is going to be key and I think Babar has that command and that presence and he commands that role and he needs to fulfil that role,” said Hayden.
“On a batting sense, his role, I think is the premium player. He will be targetted, he will also be the person that everyone is wanting to as Christopher Gayle put in his pocket and so yes, there is going to be additional pressure on him both as a captain and batsman but I sense that the way he goes about his game, he will be spot on,” he added.
