"We've a lot of talent in our side and we encourage our players to be as brash and aggressive as they can and take the game to the opposition," said Morgan. © Getty
"Having a bit of naivety along with talent isn't bad," Eoin Morgan, England captain, said in a pre-ICC World T20 2016 press conference in Mumbai on Wednesday (March 9).
The fact that England don't have players with enough Indian Premier League (IPL) experience, unlike the other top sides in the competition, holds them in a bit of a disadvantage. But the England skipper thinks that the lack of the knowledge of conditions and experience could instead be a boon for his young team.
"Sometimes having experience particularly in India where a lot of teams come here and get hammered, including Australia, can guide your perception coming into the tournament," he said.
Morgan is the only player to have played in the IPL, while the rest have missed out due to the franchisees' reluctance to spend their moolah on English cricketers, who have a cricket calendar clashing with their domestic season back home and a few international fixtures too. In fact, England last toured India in 2012-13, back when most players in the current squad hadn't even made their international debuts.
"I think it just becomes a different challenge. Not only have most of our guys not played in the IPL, but most of them have not even travelled to India. But we've guys who have toured Sri Lanka a lot, been to Dubai and Abu Dhabi, where we have enjoyed a little bit of success," he said.
Exactly a year on, since the defeat to Bangladesh in the 2015 World Cup, Morgan says that the hurt of crashing out from the competition still remains. "I think it (the pain) will always be there," acknowledged Morgan. "Not that specific match, but the entire tournament was a huge learning curve for me.
"Particularly as a captain, going through such a significant loss and such a down period in you career really doesn't let you enjoy any success that you enjoy down the line."
But following yet another forgetful World Cup campaign, England scripted an incredible turnaround with a new bunch of players and a new brand of cricket, making them one of the most exciting teams to watch out for in limited-overs in the last one year.
"It's been the most expressive that we've been for a long time," he pointed out. "The evidence in that is the significant totals that we've put with the bat. We have scored 350 twice or three times. We've definitely chased it down once. We've scored 400 once.
"It is a huge step for us. And it is no co-incidence. We've a lot of talent in our side and we encourage our players to be as brash and aggressive as they can and take the game to the opposition."
England's renewed avatar over the last one year has made them one of the teams to beat in upcoming world competition. Even as he thinks that India will be the favourites going into the tournament, it will be an open contest otherwise. With two spinners who can contribute significantly with the bat and a range of explosive batsmen, he is confident of England's chances of winning their second World T20 title.
"We have an attitude within the team of a really positive mindset. There is a lot of positive vibe and that is really important going into a major tournament like this one," he said.
via- Cricbuzz
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