Eoin Morgan backs Alastair Cook to captain England at World Cup in Australia and New Zealand
Sunday 7 September 2014 14:02, UK
Eoin Morgan will lead England in their T20 clash with India on Sunday, but has backed Alastair Cook to remain as ODI skipper.
Morgan, who takes over the captaincy for the one-off international at Edgbaston, has the backing of several Sky Sports pundits to take on the role in the 50-over game in the wake of a series defeat to MS Dhoni's tourists.
Nasser Hussain, David Lloyd, Ian Botham, Michael Holding and Nick Knight all picked the Irishman as skipper when asked to name their starting XIs for England's World Cup opener against Australia in Melbourne next February.
Morgan admits he enjoys captaincy, but insists Cook is the right man to lead England into a big winter of ODI cricket.
"Not being an all-rounder, fielding can become quite tedious and you try and improve anything you can, to have that extra bit of weight on your shoulders, to be thinking about the game two or three overs ahead than you normally would is a good challenge," he said.
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"But Cooky has been exceptional this summer. He's been under the pump quite a lot - and in challenging times in English cricket at the moment, he's come out really well.
"He's been outstanding dealing with it. I have every confidence in him. I have a huge amount of respect for him, both as a player and as a captain - and I look forward to him leading the side out come Sri Lanka and come the World Cup."
Cook's season is over - it is almost five years since he played the last of his four T20 internationals - leaving Morgan the responsibility to conclude England's international summer with a win in Birmingham.
They avoided an ODI series whitewash at Headingley on Friday thanks to a century from Joe Root, and will have a debutant on board when they switch formats in Surrey batsman Jason Roy.
Morgan is hoping to welcome the new recruit with a second successive victory.
"We didn't compete in the first three (ODI) games we played against India," he added. "They are a very strong side and didn't let us play - all credit to them.
"But for us to stand up yesterday, and for Joe (Root) to put in the extremely skilful performance that he did - in difficult circumstances and given the situation when he came in - it was exceptional. Guys can take a lot of confidence from that."
Morgan's position as a batsman does not appear under threat despite a record of just 198 runs in 10 ODI innings since he returned from injury in Antigua in March.
He said: "The senior players, including myself, haven't put in justifiable performances to win a series - and that's where we have struggled. It's been extremely disappointing.
"I've worked incredibly hard this year on my all-round game, and I have been light on runs. I can't pinpoint exactly where it's going wrong.
"I've found different ways of getting out the majority of the time. I've gone through periods likes this before, and I've always come back well - so I'm quite confident I will."
Watch live as England take on India in Sunday's T20 international. Coverage begins at 2.30pm on Sky Sports 2
