Kevin Pietersen believes Eoin Morgan will come back from IPL a better player
Thursday 7 May 2015 16:23, UK
Kevin Pietersen feels England will benefit more from Eoin Morgan playing in the Indian Premier League than facing Ireland on Friday.
Morgan captained England at the Cricket World Cup and then headed off for a stint with the Sunrisers Hyderabad, hitting 63 off 28 balls against the Rajasthan Royals on Thursday.
England will be without Morgan when they take on Ireland in Malahide on Friday, but Pietersen believes the national team can cash in on a longer-term basis if the left-hander bats himself into form.
"Everybody needs runs. For him this is brilliant; for England this is even better - he's their captain," Pietersen told Sky Sports.
"You've got guys who play like this against England - you saw it at the World Cup.
"You've now got players - and he's one of the players that England have - who can hit sixes and take teams apart."
Morgan's form dipped badly, just as England's did, in the 50-over tournament in New Zealand and Australia, where England failed to make it out of the group stage.
But Pietersen feels he is in the right environment to return to his best in India, based on the class of players he is facing and coaches he is working with.
Pietersen added: "This might sound controversial and I'm not one to mix my words, but he's playing in the IPL and he's playing against (Shane) Watson, (Chris) Morris, (Pravin) Tambe, and he's surrounded by (Sunrisers bowling coach Muttiah) Muralitharan, VVS (Laxman, team mentor), he's got all these blokes around him - superstars.
"This is benefiting his game. I know he's under a lot of pressure because he's not playing in Malahide tomorrow, but I prefer seeing Eoin Morgan doing this in the IPL than playing in Malahide tomorrow."
