Eoin Morgan finds a silver lining despite defeat 

Eoin Morgan was in a reflective mood after England lost to India by seven wickets in the second T20I in Ahmedabad. He praised India for their clinical effort but was happy to gain experience on a challenging surface.

India bounced back with a comprehensive victory in the second game of the five-match series. The hosts won the toss and bowled well to restrict England to 164-6. In response, Virat Kohli and debutant Ishan Kishan scored half-centuries as India wrapped up the chase with more than two overs to spare.

Looking back on the defeat during the post-match presentation, Eoin Morgan explained why he wasn't too disappointed about the setback, saying in this regard:

“The biggest thing for us tonight is that we don’t get the opportunity to play a lot on slow wickets where pace off the ball for both batters and bowlers is challenging. We want to play (on these surfaces) as much as we can in order to try and learn from tonight and other experiences throughout this series. I’m glad we played on this wicket. Just a little bit disappointed with the way we played.”

England played 27% false shots in their innings - the last time they played more was the fifth T20I against New Zealand at the end of 2019. #INDvENG

— The CricViz Analyst (@cricvizanalyst) March 14, 2021

Eoin Morgan and co started their innings well, scoring at more than eight runs per over in the initial period. They were 111/3 at one stage and looked on course for a challenging total. But India kept chipping away as some great death bowling from the hosts England restricted to just 164/5.

Asked to comment on England’s batting performance, Eoin Morgan said that he was confident about his team’s chances at the interval. Eoin Morgan credited India’s bowling effort but rued not being able to counter them.

“I think at the half-way stage, we were probably in and around par, so we were in the game. I thought we would have to bowl well to get over the line. Thought India bowled well. The pitch was different from what it was in the first game. Probably less pace on it. But full credit to India for the way they bowled and the way they restricted us to that total. With the bowling, they came out and put us on the back foot from the start, and we didn’t manage to counter that, which is disappointing,” said Eoin Morgan.

Eoin Morgan wants England to improve batting while batting first

We set India 165 to win 🏏Scorecard: https://t.co/dgJ1t3yx6i🇮🇳 #INDvENG 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 pic.twitter.com/RhM3yftfEm

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) March 14, 2021

The first two games of the India-England series have seen a clear pattern of the team batting first, struggling to come to terms with the surface and failing to put up challenging totals.

With the chasing team able to assess the conditions better, both India and England have wrapped up chases with ease in the first two games of the series.

Eoin Morgan admitted that chasing has always been an advantage in T20Is. But the 34-year-old wants England to focus on improving their effort while batting first, explaining how it can help them win games.

“Statistically, there is always an advantage (while) chasing. Particularly if there is some dew around. Tonight, there was absolutely no dew around. Full credit to India for the way they played. I think one thing every team in the world has to get used to is posting totals. Find areas early on, particularly in those first 10 overs where you can counter the opposition’s attack and post a winning, if not a par total,” concluded Morgan.