Was Looking Forward to Working With Karthik, McCullum: Morgan

London: England captain Eoin Morgan said that he was excited to work with Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Dinesh Karthik and coach Brendon McCullim. Morgan was scheduled to turn up for KKR in the 2020 season of the Indian Premier League that should have started on March 29 but was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“I’ve spoken to DK a lot and I met up with him just before Christmas when I was out in Mumbai. He’s a fantastic guy, a great cricketer and I’m looking forward to helping him in whatever way I can,” the 33-year-old 2019 World Cup winner told the www.kkr.in.

“While I’m here to help, I also want to learn as much as I can from him. There are a lot of dynamics about being a captain when you’re playing in India that I don’t know about, I’ll be picking his brain the whole time,” he said.

Morgan is credited with being responsible for turning England around in limited overs cricket and ultimately winning the World Cup for the first time ever last year. He has spoken about the inspiration McCullum’s leadership at New Zealand gave him.

“I’m very lucky to be able to call him one of my good mates. Over the years, we’ve gotten to know each other really well. Actually our relationship first blossomed at Kolkata, where the two of us played together,” said Morgan about McCullum.

“I think his contribution not only to New Zealand cricket but to world cricket really took the front in 2015 with their campaign – throughout the 2015 World Cup. They really did, I suppose, transform the fate of a nation and the hope of a nation in the way that they played,” said Morgan.

“They played aggressive, positive cricket but also in a way that wasn’t in your face the whole time. It was really good to watch, it created a huge amount of attraction and I think majority of the time actually the way that they play and the manner that they play overlooks the skill level that they produce.

“And I think Baz is the reason for that turn around. I think he has had a huge input in the way they’ve played and in all formats as well not just white ball.”

Morgan also said that it will be fascinating to see how it shapes up after cricket is restarted. “It’s going to be fascinating to see how and when we get to play and how the competition lines up. Because everybody is going to come out of isolation extremely excited, rearing to go, batting, bowling, fielding the whole lot,” he said.