Mumbai: Uncertainty about the IPL has overtaken Eoin Morgan, as the England captain was keen to complete his second stint with the franchise for the Kolkata Knight Riders.
Morgan was picked up for auction by KKR after winning a bidding war against the Delhi Capitals for Rs 5.25 crore and as excited as he was to play for the two-time IPL champions, those plans have been seemingly shelved owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I was very excited, especially going back to Kolkata. I had three seasons that I had enjoyed well before, ”Morgan told KKR.in. “Keeping in mind one of the best-run teams, everything from owners to young players is perfect. I like the plan, and when you look at the entire IPL from the start, they are one of the three teams that have had the most success and it is easy to see why they have.
“The level of consistency that they show and I believe in maintaining that group of core players… presumably, the other two teams are Mumbai and Chennai you know. They actually back the players, and they have done so from the beginning. If they believe that the boy has the right values or leadership skills to take the team forward, they stick with them.”
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Morgan’s first stint with the team began in 2011 when he was acquired by the franchise for $ 350,000 at the 2011 IPL auction and went on to play in three seasons, scoring 444 runs in 26 matches over two seasons. He did not play a single match when KKR won their first IPL trophy in 2012, remembers the celebrations and the madness following the triumph.
“2012 was a very chaotic season, and being in a team where you win it (IPL) for the first time, you see the reaction when we returned to the city (Kolkata). I literally returned for a few hours and then passed out but people align the roads. I remember that the Garden of Eden is full, all the pictures of the boys walking around and in the lap of honour… Just to see the pure joy on peoples’ faces about how proud they were to support a team was amazing,” he said.
For his second term, Morgan said he wanted to pick the mind of KKR captain Dinesh Karthik for leadership in India. Being the World Cup-winning captain, Morgan can help when needed.
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“I talked to DK a lot and I met him just before Christmas when I was in Mumbai. A great cricketer, I want to go to a great cricketer and help him in whatever I can. While going here to help, I 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.” Morgan explained.
“It has been naturally discussed that I should be myself and try to give as much as the rest of the international players.” But it will be interesting to see when and how we play and how the competition grows. Because everyone is going to come out of isolation, back to go, batting, bowling, fielding all over the field. ”
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