Eoin Morgan confirms England will test their bench strength against Pakistan
England skipper Eoin Morgan is looking at the upcoming three-match T20I series against Pakistan as the last chance to fix the team's combinations for the ICC T20 World Cup.
The hosts, who are without a couple of their first-choice players, will look to test the depth of the squad against Babar Azam's Pakistan. Morgan stressed that the team will continue to rotate the players and give everyone an opportunity to perform.
Addressing a press conference, Eoin Morgan said:
"Not knowing what is ahead of ourselves, we need to look more into a little bit more into strength in depth. You'll see us giving opportunities and going through various little options in the next three games for possible injury replacements for certain players within the group."
"100 percent [there will be more rotation]. The priority throughout the series will be to give guys opportunities and treating it as though it is our last chance to look at guys in various positions. I still think the roles will be the same, but there will be rotation throughout the squad," added Morgan.
The series against Pakistan will be England's final series before they submit their provisional squad for the global T20 event. Incidentally, the International Cricket Council (ICC) requires a provisional squad of each team one month before the start of each tournament.
The likes of Saqib Mahmood and Lewis Gregory are expected to get one more shot following their impressive run in the ODIs against Pakistan, confirmed Eoin Morgan. The English skipper also highlighted that they will look to fix their death bowling woes. He explained:
"I think everybody is going to get an opportunity to bowl at the death - probably not the spinners, but certainly the seamers. When you look at an area of improvement, you don't always look at your best guys to do it when you're trying to plan ahead. Everybody will have a chance… it's an opportunity in these three games to look at guys under pressure."
Ben Stokes missing the T20I series is a precaution: Eoin Morgan
Ace all-rounder Ben Stokes got a much-needed break after he was rushed back to lead a second-string ODI side against Pakistan. This happened after the main squad was isolated following a couple of positive COVID-19 cases in the camp.
Eoin Morgan said the injury has not healed as the medical team wanted and also stressed that dropping Stokes was a precautionary measure ahead of a busy schedule.
"He dug us out of a huge hole coming back early from his injury and I think leading the way he did is a huge compliment to the leader he is within our side, how mature he has been as a leader and now a captain," said Eoin Morgan.
"We gave him every chance to be fit. He hasn't played a lot of cricket and he's had some R and R [rest and relaxation] at home and feels quite fresh. The finger hasn't come along as he and the medical team would have liked, so it's important it's as good as it can be for the Test matches against India," added Eoin Morgan.