Skipper Eoin Morgan Saturday said he would rather let his bat do all the talking as England chase their second World Twenty20 crown against West Indies in the title clash in Kolkata.
A new-look England have played quality cricket in the sixth edition of the T20 tournament but their captain’s form has been a cause of concern for the 2010 champions.
Morgan’s 61 runs in five matches is in stark contrast to what the other batsmen have contributed, with Joe Root leading the English batting charts with 195 runs.
The left-handed Morgan also failed to get going against South Africa when his team set the tournament ablaze with a record 230-run chase at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium on March 18.
“At the moment I’d like to score more runs. That hasn’t happened. Hopefully, tomorrow I can make a match-winning contribution,” Morgan told reporters on the eve of the match at the Eden Gardens stadium.
Morgan, 29, however has led the side with aplomb, making all the right moves in crunch matches to gain the respect of team members.
“He’s a great captain. He’s got a great work ethic. And working under someone like that gives a huge amount of confidence,” dashing opener Jason Roy had said about his limited-overs skipper after the side’s semi-final win over New Zealand.
England have belied expectations to bring about a remarkable turnaround from their embarrassing 2015 World Cup exit that saw them crash out of the group stage after losing to Bangladesh.
Slammed earlier for adopting a siege mentality, they have played a new aggressive brand of cricket with Australian coach Trevor Bayliss and consultant Paul Collingwood at helm.
Collingwood, who was the captain during England’s 2010 title triumph, has especially played a big hand in changing mindsets.
“The key component in that has been the mindset of the players and back-room staff, and it’s rubbed off on everyone,” said Morgan.
“It would mean a huge amount (to win the title). I think the strides that we’ve made in the last 12 months in white-ball cricket, this would be a great reward for the mindset we’ve shown, the dedication and the hard work.”
England are up against a West Indies side that stunned tournament favourites India in a sensational second semi-final and Morgan has great respect for his opponents, who won the title in 2012.
“We’re quite real about things…it is important we are in the right frame of mind, to slow it down when needed and more importantly execute our skills,” said Morgan.
England were undone by West Indies in their opening game after Chris Gayle hit an unbeaten century but Morgan sought to downplay the Gayle factor.
“Even before we played West Indies in the group stages I was quite firm that Chris Gayle is not just the West Indies team,” said Morgan.
