See what Eoin Morgan had to say ahead of tomorrow's game
By James O'Brien
Eoin Morgan believes the added responsibility of captaining England in tomorrow's one-off NatWest International T20 against India is just what he needs to turn his form around.
The 27-year-old left-hander struggled for runs in the five-match Royal London Series, which concluded with England beating the tourists by 41 runs at Headingley yesterday.
Morgan managed only 84 runs in the four completed matches and he is frustrated his hard work in the nets is not translating into big scores in the middle.
"It's been extremely disappointing," he said.
"I've worked incredibly hard this year on my all-round game, and I have been light on runs.
"(But) I've gone through periods likes this before, and I've always come back well - so I'm quite confident I will."
Despite his indifferent form, Morgan is relishing the prospect of leading England out at Edgbaston.
"To have that extra bit of weight on your shoulders, to be thinking about the game two or three overs ahead than you normally would be, I think is a good challenge and one I enjoy," he added.
"The scores I've had when I've captained, it hasn't seemed to have affected my batting at all."
The NatWest IT20 provides England with an opportunity to end the summer with back-to-back limited-overs wins.
Yesterday's hero, Joe Root, has been labelled a match-winner by Morgan.
He said: "For us to stand up yesterday, and for Joe to put in the extremely skilful performance that he did - in difficult circumstances and given the situation when he came in - it was exceptional.
"Guys can take a lot of confidence from that.
"It's great to see him scoring runs the way he does - because when he scores runs, we win games."