Liam Livingstone backs Eoin Morgan to bounce back from his slump

England batter Liam Livingstone has backed captain Eoin Morgan to regain his form after his recent struggles with the bat.

Morgan put up another disappointing show as he was dismissed for a duck in the second ODI against the Netherlands. It is worth mentioning that the southpaw had also failed to open his account in the first ODI of the ongoing series.

Speaking to Sky Sports ahead of the third and final ODI on Wednesday, Livingstone praised England's most successful white-ball captain and said that he will be fine, and it would take just one good knock for the left-hander to regain his form.

"Yeah. I'm sure he will [return to form]. Morgs [Eoin Morgan] is an unbelievable leader. He's the leader of our team. Everybody knows that he's only one score away [from finding form]. I'm sure that score will come very soon," Liam Livingstone told Sky Sports Cricket in Amstelveen.

The white-ball specialist hasn't been able to contribute significantly with the bat for the English side in the team's recent games. While he is yet to score a single run in ODIs this year, he has managed 30 runs from his two T20I appearances in 2022. In the last year, Morgan scored 228 runs in 14 white-ball games at the highest level at an average and strike rate of 20.72 and 93.44, respectively.

The 35-year-old has also been struggling with an ongoing groin problem, and he could decide to sit out of the final game and hand over the reins to Jos Buttler.

The Eoin Morgan-led team blasted a world-record ODI score of 498 in the first match against the Netherlands, with Buttler smashing the second-fastest ODI century for his country in just 47 balls. 

Speaking about Buttler and his innings, Livingstone said: "It was pretty special to watch, especially from the other end. It's been great fun. It was nice to obviously break the world record on Friday, the lads have put in some really good cricket, it has been a great standard and hopefully, it's the same again [on Wednesday]."

Unlike Morgan, Livingstone has been enjoying a good run in white-ball cricket this year with the bat. He was the most expensive overseas player in the IPL 2022 mega auction, fetching INR 11.5 crore from Punjab Kings, and he certainly lived up to expectations. 

The 28-year-old hard-hitting batter scored 437 runs at a strike rate of 182.08 in 14 games, averaging 36.41. In the ongoing series against the Netherlands, he also recorded his country's fastest fifty in ODI cricket.