Mumbai: England’s limited-overs captain Eoin Morgan has revealed that the participation of his teammates in IPL 2019 helped them adapt to the high-pressure situations, which played a big role in team’s maiden World Cup title.
According to Morgan, there were discussion before 2019 World Cup on how to make the players more fearless and he convinced chairman of ECB’s Cricket Committee, Andrew Strauss to make Engish players available for IPL because he felt the pressure associated with a world event can only be matched by the Indian T-20 league.
“Playing in IPL was part of Strauss’s plan. I pushed him to make that call because, in international bilateral series, it’s so difficult to replicate the pressure that’s there in Champions Trophy or the World Cup,” Morgan told Harsha Bhogle on ‘Cricbuzz in Conversation’. “He asked me what’s different? One, you play as an overseas player so there are huge expectations.
If you play in IPL, there’s different pressure and different expectation. Sometimes you can’t get away with it and you have to find a way to deal with it,” he added.
England lifted their maiden World Cup title, beating New Zealand on boundary count rule in a dramatic final at the iconic Lord’s last year. Morgan also mentioned that IPL helps players come out of their comfort zone. “It takes you out of your comfort zone. It is completely beneficial to play in IPL.
That was a big mindset shift for us. And I hope Indian cricket is alright with us because we are using it as a vehicle to try and grow players,” he said. (UNI)
