Eoin Morgan lauds India’s aggressive approach in the first T20I vs England

The former England white-ball skipper Eoin Morgan has heaped praise on the Indian batters for their aggression in the first fixture of the T20I series against England on July 7 at Southampton. 

India posted a substantial total of 198, with quickfire innings from Rohit Sharma (24 off 14), Deepak Hooda (33 off 17), Suryakumar Yadav (39 off 19), and Hardik Pandya (51 off 33), with the latter scoring his maiden T20I fifty as well. 

Morgan thinks India brought back their aggressive approach, which they lacked during the 2021 edition of the T20 World Cup, which paved the way for the 'Men in Blue' to miss out on the knock-out spots. 

"The most impressive thing about India for me today is what they lacked in the group stages of the T20 World Cup, they brought," Eoin Morgan was quoted as saying by Sky Sports.

"Every single one of their batsmen came hard at England's bowlers and that hasn't happened in previous teams, previous squads that India have produced," he added.

Indian bowling unit was exceptional: Eoin Morgan

The 35-year-old reckoned that the bowling performance of the Indian team was a crucial differentiator in the match's final result. 

Pandya scalped four wickets, while Yuzvendra Chahal impressed with two wickets in the middle overs, which helped the visitors win the game by 50 runs. 

Morgan hailed the pin-point accuracy of bowlers, especially Kumar, who stunned Three Lions skipper Jos Buttler with a perfect in-swing delivery to send him back to the pavilion for a duck in the first over. 

The other in-form batters, Jason Roy, Dawid Malan, and Liam Livingstone, also failed to leave an impact with the willow. 

"Exceptional, the huge difference in both innings was the ball swinging, if you can get the ball to move off the straight in white-ball cricket specifically it's a game-changer, an absolute game-changer," Morgan said.

"You watched the England top order that is normally unbelievably destructive, do nothing and became a little bit of a target. The bowling was exceptional. 

"Not only the level of swing that they showed, but the accuracy as well, to get somebody like Jos Buttler out first ball with the level of accuracy Bhuvneshwar Kumar showed." 

Both teams will meet in the second fixture of the T20I series on July 9 at Birmingham.