England may be moving on from 50-over cricket to Twenty20 in Kanpur but captain Eoin Morgan still has his eyes on the prize that is the Champions Trophy.
The primary focus of the national side for the first half of the year is coming out victorious on home soil when the world’s top eight one-day international sides do battle in June.
That makes a three-match T20 series to conclude the tour of India slightly incongruous but it is hardly the most worrying or egregious quirk of the sport’s baffling calendar.
And Morgan, for one, believes the games can still be important preparation for the Champions Trophy as methods, tactics and personnel increasingly leach between the limited-overs formats.
Only two members of the T20 squad – pace pair Tymal Mills and Chris Jordan – were not part of the one-day group and England’s preferred aggressive style now differs little whenever a white ball is involved.
__________________________________
Read more
■ Virat Kohli: India captain backs under-fire opening batsmen to come good
■ Eye on India: Yuvraj Singh not a long-term solution but enjoy his swansong while it lasts
__________________________________
“What we’re seeing now is your 50-over team is almost identical to your T20 team. The same risk level and skill level you have to show in both forms is pretty evident,” Morgan said.
“Around the 2015 World Cup you might have had three or four changes between the two groups. You might have had specialist T20 players coming in but we only really have one or two now.
“Fifty-over and 20-over cricket are similar and probably getting more alike. It will happen naturally but the difference will be between being a Test player and a white-ball player.
“Going from the series we’ve just played, where bowlers have found it difficult, honing your specific skills into T20 cricket can be relevant.”
England lost the ODI series 2-1 but ended on a high with a five-run win in Kolkata despite the absence of their batting linchpin Joe Root.
He may have been able to play had the series still been at stake but as it was England were happy to have him rest a minor complaint and give Jonny Bairstow a chance at No 3.
Root will now return to action but David Willey, who injured his left shoulder while bowling at Eden Gardens, has been ruled out.
“Joe has recovered really well, it was just a niggle and a risk we didn’t feel we needed to take given it was a bit of a dead rubber,” Morgan said.
“It was also a good opportunity for the guys who’ve sat on the sideline to show the form they’re in. Joe is fit for this game.
“David flew in yesterday, missed practice in the morning and he won’t be fit for selection.
“Nothing serious showed up on the scan, which is a huge positive because initially it looked quite painful, but he won’t be fit for tomorrow’s game.”
England surprised everyone when they last played the shortest format in India, entering the World Twenty20 as underdogs but making it all the way to the final before being dramatically beaten by the West Indies. They are more experienced and more imbued with self-belief since then and Morgan is feeling good about his team’s prospects.
“I think confidence is the big word in T20 cricket, confidence and momentum. At the moment the guys are feeling a lot more confident than they maybe were after Game 2” of the previous series, he said.
“Having had a win under our belt we’re looking forward to a three-match series in what could potentially be very exciting. It’s a great place to play T20 cricket so everybody is looking forward to it.
“We came here last year with a hugely inexperienced T20 team and got to the final, so the attitude and desire isn’t a problem it’s just tying the skills together.”
Meanwhile, India captain Virat Kohli is relaxed about the prospect of facing England’s new pace bowler Mills, saying he can handle speed.
Mills has played only once for England, due in large part to the congenital back condition which means the 24-year-old paceman is now a Twenty20 specialist, but expectations are rising sharply ahead of his second cap in Kanpur.
But Kohli is not likely to be overawed by a rookie opponent he has never faced before.
“I haven’t seen much of him but I have played 90mph before,” he said wryly when asked about the threat of Mills.
“They have brought him in as a T20 specialist and he might have a set of skills that are required for this format but I can maybe comment further on him after I’ve played him.
“But 90mph is not a problem at all. I think I have faced many 90mph bowlers before.”
* Press Association
Follow us on Twitter @NatSportUAE
Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/TheNationalSport
