England leg-spinner Adil Rashid has credited skipper Eoin Morgan’s calm demeanour for the team becoming the No.1 in the world, reported ICC.
From the first-round exit in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 to being considered favourites for the upcoming edition in 2019, England have made a great turnaround as a one-day international side, and Morgan has moulded his team all the way.
Morgan was a freshly appointed captain at the 2015 World Cup, and hadn’t had enough time at the helm to spark a new approach to white-ball cricket. But things started falling into place immediately after as England defeated New Zealand, finalists of the 2015 World Cup, 3-2 in a closely contested series at home.
Rashid has been one of the key members of the England side through this period and feels that Morgan’s role in the team’s rise to top of the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s ODI Team Rankings can’t be overstated.
“A huge amount of credit goes to him for how far we’ve come from the series against New Zealand in 2015 to where we are now, which is No.1,” Rashid said in Colombo. “As a captain, a leader and a person, he really gives confidence to players.
“He is a great leader for this bunch of lads and he has made this environment a nice one to be in, you want to play for him and you want to enjoy it on and off the pitch.”
As a leg-spinner – one of the more difficult arts in the game – Rashid knows how big a role the belief of a captain in his players can play in making them more thorough performers.
“He knows you are going to have good days and bad days,” Rashid said. “One big positives I’ve found is there are no big emotions from him if you’re not bowling so well or things are not going great for the team. He doesn’t really show it in his face which is a big positive for the players.
“For me he has been a massive help. He has given me the confidence to go out there and try to get wickets and if you get smashed, no problem because we’ve got five other bowlers to keep it tight. It is my job to create chances and he has been a big positive for me.”
