Eoin Morgan, the former skipper of England Cricket Team mentioned that he wants to see both Joe Root and Ben Stokes in the England team for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 in Pakistan. The duo last played during the ODI World Cup 2023 in India, when England failed to retain its title and were even eliminated before the league stage.
Joe Root & Ben Stokes: The Top Picks Of Eoin Morgan
Joe Root will not join the squad of West Indies tour scheduled soon, although both have been assured that they are likely to be in contention for the Champions Trophy. Stokes has missed the recently played series against Australia, keeping in view his injury recovery period, while Root was simply rested.
Speaking at the launch of the International Masters League in Mumbai, Morgan underlined that Stokes would be keen to play in Champions Trophy if coach Brendon McCullum makes a call for him. For a tournament as big as this, England should field its best team and not leave out either Root or Stokes, according to him.
“Ben Stokes has already said that he hasn’t had the call yet from Baz as to whether he will play or not,” Morgan said. “If that call comes, obviously he would love to play. In my eyes, they’ve got to come into a major world tournament and look to win it, and that means trying to find the best team – and for me, Stokes and Root are in that best team.”
In one series recently in England against Australia, Jos Buttler and Mark Wood were most notably missing from the action, and it was a completely new step that the team experimented with a younger squad. According to Morgan, England has found a successful template during that series and hopes the team will continue that way as they prepare for the Champions Trophy.
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“At the moment, I’m happy to back the younger players,” Morgan said at the launch of the International Masters League in Mumbai on Tuesday. “In the recent series against Australia, they found a template. Australia, you have to commend how good they are at the moment in all formats of the game. But when you put them up against a side that, at stages, didn’t have [Jofra] Archer, no Wood, Stokes and Root as well, no Buttler, that’s half your England team.”
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“The run chase at Durham, when Harry Brook scored that magnificent hundred and then just went on to find his feet as captainâ€æ the template that they found in that game, I thought, is one that really suits the players that they’ve selected. I would encourage them to continue with that template and look ahead to the Champions Trophy.”
