IPL 2020 | Would love to bat again with Shubman Gill, claims Eoin Morgan

After throwing his wicket away in Kolkata Knight Riders’ first game of the season versus Mumbai Indians, flamboyant youngster Shubman Gill made his presence known on Saturday. Chasing a total of 143 set by the Sunrisers Hyderabad batsmen, Gill took calculated risks throughout his innings and smashed a fine, unbeaten 70 en route taking his team over the line. The 21-year-old was subsequently named the Man of the Match for his efforts. 

Eoin Morgan, who shared an unbeaten 92-run stand with Gill and scored 42 himself, had the best seat in the house to witness the right-hander’s wondrous knock and speaking post-match, the England limited-overs skipper had kind words for the prodigal youngster. Morgan branded Gill a hungry-learner and claimed that he would love to bat alongside the youngster once again.

“I didn't have to tell him a great deal, to be honest, he's beautiful to watch on the eye, good bat swing, very languid style, magnificent to watch, he's a good kid, very hungry to learn and I would love to bat with him once again. I think he deserves all the success,” Morgan said post KKR’s 7-wicket win over SRH on Saturday.

After leaking 195 in their first game vs Mumbai, the Kolkata bowlers bounced back in Abu Dhabi on Saturday and did a fine job to restrict their opponents, SRH, to just 142. Morgan admitted that his side were rusty in the first game, but heaped praise on the bowling, which, led by Cummins and Varun Charkravarthy, never let SRH off the hook.

“Nice feeling to get a win under our belt. It's a long tournament, but obviously this win helps us get some momentum and confidence going. We were a bit rusty in our last game against MI, but we won this match with our bowlers, they did a great job restricting a very strong Sunrisers batting line-up. Wickets of Bairstow and Warner at the top put us in a good position. They put them on the back-foot and we knew we didn't have to put ourselves under pressure in the chase,” said the 34-year-old.

Kolkata have, thus far, played on two good batting wickets, but according to Morgan, it would be a mistake to be fixated by one kind of pitch. The 34-year-old claimed that the wickets would wear deeper into the tournament due to the heat and insisted on the need to adapt. 

“The pitches have been a bit different, you can't be fixated by one pitch, but with the nature of the heat, it should change considerably as the tournament wears on. You should take each game as it comes and try to adapt, stick to your game plan and hopefully it works.”