Is Eoin Morgan the right candidate to lead England's ODI side?

Eoin Morgan’s form as stand-in captain has been sensational, but the Irishman has struggled otherwise

Not so long ago, Alastair Cook was England Cricket Board’s (ECB) most favourite person. Cook was their loyal child and in any trying circumstances, Cook has always received ECB’s utmost support. And for which it’s pretty hard to imagine that Cook has now been left in the cold by his most beloved Board.

On Saturday December 20 2014, the ECB sacked Alastair Cook as England’s one-day captain and confirmed Eoin Morgan as the next captain with less than two months before the start of World Cup. Cook doesn’t even feature in the 15-man squad for World Cup.

Captain Cook had become a liability for quite a while

Over the years, Cook’s one-day form has been dull. He had scored only one half-century in the last 22 innings and his last one-day hundred came 45 innings back. His slow-paced batting has also been a worry for England in this fast-and-furious age of cricket. Moreover, as a captain, he has failed to inspire his team – 36 wins and 30 defeats out of 69 matches.

Cook’s lack of ability to score runs was becoming painful for the fans and critics. In Sri Lanka, he was simply a helpless figure. Neither had he stayed at the crease longer nor did he show any urge to score runs in plenty for his team. And this has been Cook’s story for a long time now.

Surely, it’s hard to keep the faith in such a player who has failed to live up to the expectations time and again. The cricket pundits, fans and ECB’s most disliked person Kevin Pietersen have been vociferous regarding Cook’s axing from the one-day team and finally, Cook’s harsh critics will have plenty to smile at present.

Eoin Morgan a risky investment

It’s always sensible enough to replace the captain with a player who is in good form and also has leadership qualities. But, how logical is it to appoint Eoin Morgan as the captain? Like Cook, Morgan’s own form with the bat is also not good enough. In the last 19 innings he has scored just one half-century and this doesn’t do any justice to ECB’s decision.

But as a captain, Morgan averages almost 71 with the bat in eight matches and this might have encouraged the English hierarchy. Perhaps, they think that Morgan’s game will reach at its peak if he is made the captain.

Again, is Morgan a dynamic captain? At the eleventh hour, England needs a dynamic captain who can lift his team up not only with his performance but also with his captaincy prowess and man managing skills. Is Morgan the messiah whom the English one-day team is looking for?

ECB’s decision can’t be termed as bold but very risky. Former English spinner turned cricket columnist Vic Marks said, “The template for this World Cup seems to be the campaign in the Caribbean in 2010 when England won their solitary ICC trophy at the World T20. But the secret to England’s success then was that there was no template”.

Of course what he says is true – firstly, the twenty20 and 50-over formats are different. There is no scope for experimenting. You need to send a team which is well settled under a tried and tested captain in the World Cups.

Cook should have been removed from the one-day captaincy a long time ago to give the new captain enough time to gel well with his new job. But, it seems too late to appoint a new captain with the World Cup just knocking at the door. Whether Morgan has been the right choice or not as the captain, only time will tell.