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by IANS |
Dubai, Oct 23 (IANS) Former England women's team captain Charlotte Edwards feels that despite the patchy form of Eoin Morgan in the run-up to the ICC T20 World Cup here, he will be a "guaranteed starter" in the 'Super 12' game against the West Indies here later on Saturday.
Edwards, who retired from international cricket in 2016 after playing nearly 200 Women's ODIs and 95 WT20I besides 23 Women's Tests, added that coming off the back of a win against New Zealand in the warm-up match would have raised the confidence levels of the England team.
"Eoin Morgan's form has not been particularly great of late but for me he is a guaranteed starter with his contribution as captain and the runs he has previously scored. I wouldn't bet against him, I think he'll have a good tournament, sometimes it's not a bad thing going in without too many runs because he's too good a player not to come good at some point," Edwards said in her column for the ICC.
Despite his IPL side Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) reaching the final this year, Morgan has been dogged by poor form.
"I know Morgan has said he would drop himself from the team if it was the right thing to do and that is a huge statement. It just shows that he has got the team's performances at heart. He knows if he's not playing well enough, he will be prepared and has faith in someone like Jos Buttler who would take over," added Edwards.
"But I think England are a stronger team with Morgan and you can see how much the boys enjoy playing under him, he's a big match and big tournament player. It just shows what a team person he is, he's not too proud to say that. I never found myself in that position, but I think I would feel exactly the same. If you are not playing well, you are desperate for the team to do well and because it's a short tournament you know how important it is to get up and running early doors, but I think he will be absolutely fine," she said.
Following their loss to India in the warm-up game, England came back strongly to defeat New Zealand in the second warm-up match and Edwards felt it had done the side a world of good, given that the team had lost the two-Test series 1-0 earlier this year to Kane Williamson's side.
"It has been a great start to the tournament and I'm looking forward to the Super 12 games getting underway on Saturday with England playing the West Indies in a repeat of the Men's ICC T20 World Cup 2016 Final," said Edwards.
"Coming off the back of a win against New Zealand in the warm-up game they (England) will be pretty confident going into this competition. They've got lots of high-quality players which can sometimes make selection very difficult but I think bowlers win World Cups and T20 games so the depth will need to be in the bowling."
