There was a time when Eoin Morgan’s batting was all about ramps, sweeps, reverse sweeps and the angles he generated with those shots. Teams were just not used to those angles and would almost never have fielders in place to cover for them and for bowlers, the unconventional batting was a very different challenge.
But yesterday, as the England captain slammed a world record 17 sixes in a 71-ball 148 against Afghanistan, the ramp shots and reverse sweeps came out of the locker just a few times. Instead, he concentrated on hitting it straight and gave us a rare display of the power he possesses; so stupendous a display it was that he even afforded himself a giddy grin as he walked off the field after being dismissed. It almost seemed like things had come a full circle for Morgan.
“I have changed in terms of my game – everyone plays the shots I started my career with – the scoops and the sweeps, etc,” said Morgan. “However, right now, I’m stronger down the ground than I have ever been, and life seems to have come full circle that way because cricket has evolved in a way that there are fields that the oppositions set for those funky shots now.”
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In a way, it also completes Morgan’s game. And Afghanistan found that out in the worst way possible.
Morgan started off sedately — he had 28 off 25 before Dawlat Zadran made a complete mess of a pretty straightforward chance off Rashid Khan.
By the time, the over was done, the left-hander had raced away to 44 off 30. He had just decided to go for it and the man who bore the major brunt of this onslaught was none other Rashid Khan himself. In all, the leg-spinner bowled 20 balls at the England skipper, six of them were dots. Off the other 14 deliveries, Morgan scored 58 runs including 7 sixes and 1 four.
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Morgan’s innings:
First 25 balls - 28 runs, SR 112.00
Next 46 balls - 120 runs, SR 260.87
Earlier, there were the unorthodox shots but now the opposition also needs to be careful about Morgan’s straight-hitting prowess and that makes him doubly dangerous. The other bowlers weren’t spared either but the demolition of the talented Rashid was astounding to watch.
“I think I’m probably just becoming a target for the guys in the changing room to take down,” joked Morgan. “The hundred I scored is considered a slow one in our changing room – guys talk about it all the time. So it’s a tough school!
Morgan added: “Never have I ever thought I could play a knock like that but I’m delighted that I have. It’s weird. It’s very strange to have that sixes record. It’s something, along with the innings, I never thought I’d do. It’s a nice place to be.”
In a way, Morgan was also driven by the depth of England’s batting. After Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root had given England a solid platform, the batsmen coming in had no choice but to go for the quick runs. It was a feeling that was further reinforced when he was dropped.
“When I came to the crease, it was a 50/50 shout whether myself or Jos [Buttler] went in and that probably helped because after I faced a few balls, I had no choice.
“I had to start taking risks because of him coming in next and then after I got dropped [on 28], it was a matter of just keep going. It was one of those days.”
Still, Morgan’s knock once again showed why this England team is so dangerous. They have multiple match-winners in their line-up and any one of them can destroy the opposition attack on his day. They can just tee-off and launch the ball into the stands with an ease that defies belief.
Under Morgan, this team has focussed on ODIs in a completely different way and the manner in which they batted against Afghanistan showed why they are a difficult team to bowl to regardless of the conditions. Root and Bairstow are orthodox batsmen, Morgan and Buttler can light up the stands, Jason Roy and Ben Stokes are power-hitters and there are more.
It almost seems unbelievable now that England hit just 18 sixes in their entire 2015 World Cup but smashed 25 in just one match on Tuesday. It tells us how much this team has changed and how Morgan has been the face of that change.
The bigger challenges [Australia, New Zealand and India] lie ahead for England but for the moment, their skipper and the team are warming up in the best way possible.
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