Eoin Morgan was ahead of time in realising value of IPL to English cricket, opines Naseer Hussain

According to media reports from the Guardian and BBC, England’s white-ball captain Eoin Morgan is set to announce his retirement on Tuesday. Morgan took over the leadership role for England after their debacle in the 2015 ODI world cup and changed the batting approach of the team during his stint. He encouraged them to play an aggressive brand of cricket and became the first England captain to win World Cup in 2019. 

With Morgan to set to bid farewell to international cricket, many cricketers have praised him for his leadership skills and Naseer Hussain has also joined the list. 

"He was also ahead of his time, along with Kevin Pietersen, in realising the value to English cricket of the IPL. First, he helped make better players of the likes of Jos Buttler, Jonny Bairstow, Jason Roy and Liam Livingstone. Then he encouraged them to play in the IPL, where they learned to be even better," said Hussain in his column for DailyMail.

"As an on-field captain, he was cool, calm and calculated. He was icy-cold. Like all the best leaders, he had a presence. And the one time he didn't get things right, he learned from it. So when it came to Jofra Archer’s super over against New Zealand at Lord’s in the 50-over final in 2019, Morgan made sure he spoke to his bowler after he began with a tight wide."

England will play against India in a multi-format series starting from July 1.