England Test captain Ben Stokes has backed Eoin Morgan to continue as the skipper of the limited-overs side. The veteran all-rounder doesn’t believe Morgan is going through a hard time because of a few poor shows with the bat. However, Morgan, who missed the third and final ODI against the Netherlands due to a groin injury, got out on ducks in the first two matches whereas other players managed to do well on a batting pitch.
Stokes, however, said that it is the media that has been troubling Morgan and he also added that the players are behind him. He also referred to him as a ‘phenomenal leader’. Notably, Morgan has scored only one half-century in 48 innings for England. He has also managed only 68 runs in 6 matches in the T20 World Cup in 2021 and 30 runs in the T20 series against the West Indies this year as well.
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“I think the press are the only ones giving him a hard time and I think the players have shown it’s not an issue with them. He’s only had two low scores so I wouldn’t say he’s going through a hard time at the moment. People are allowed to not score many runs, and more than that he’s our captain. He’s a phenomenal leader and always will be so I’ve got no issues with anything going on with him at the moment,” Ben Stokes said, as quoted by BBC.
On the other hand, Jos Buttler, who was the stand-in captain against the Dutch on Wednesday, also supported Morgan by saying no one has questioned his position as the captain as Morgan has taken the team to great heights also.
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“There’s certainly no questioning of his position from within the camp. I can’t put into words what he’s achieved. Everyone always talks about his captaincy but you forget what a brilliant batsman he’s been for England in more than 200 ODIs. That doesn’t just go away overnight. Everyone in the team is backing him. I’m disappointed for Morgs to miss out but it’s a good challenge and an honour to captain the team,” he said.
