Eoin Morgan âgives awayâ Rajasthan Royalsâ plan; says Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler will open
England skipper Eoin Morgan, in an interaction on Sky Cricket, revealed that the duo of Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler will be opening for the Rajasthan Royals come the 2021 edition of the IPL. Buttler began IPL 2020 as an opener for the Royals, but dropped down the order mid-way through the season.
England and Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Eoin Morgan has, rather unintentionally, confirmed that the English duo of Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes will be opening the batting for the Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2021. The 2020 edition of IPL saw the Royals use an astonishing five different opening combinations, including the Buttler-Stokes combo, before settling in on the duo of Stokes and Uthappa, but with the departure of the former KKR man, uncertainty loomed over RRâs opening pair for the forthcoming season.Â
But in an interaction with Rob Key and Nasser Hussain on Sky Cricket, Morgan, when talking about Englandâs problem-of-plenty up top, revealed that the duo of Buttler and Stokes will be opening for the Royals, come IPL 2021.
âI think the more opportunities weâve given Jos, the better heâs got. Itâs very similar to Ben (Stokes). The guys just keep getting better and better. So itâs our responsibility and the teamâs responsibility to present opportunities for them in the biggest moments of the game. And obviously the two of them will be opening for Rajasthan this year in the IPL. So thatâs going to be great to watch,â Morgan said on Sky Cricket.Â
Apart from accidentally giving away RRâs tactics for the forthcoming season, Morgan also spoke about a host of other things in the show, including the criticism surrounding Dawid Malan. The number one ranked T20I batsman in the world, Malan endured a very tough series of India and managed to post a solitary fifty-plus score, struggling, in particular, to score runs at a healthy pace against the spinners.
Many experts and former cricketers, including Kevin Pietersen, have called for Malan to be dropped, but Morgan lent unwavering support to the southpaw. The England skipper insisted that he pays no attention to whatâs being written about Malan in the media, and claimed that his Middlesex teammate adds âa huge amount of valueâ to an already-strong English batting line-up.
âNo I pay absolutely no attention to [media criticism of Malan]. Itâs definitely not the mood in the camp. The mood in the camp is that Dawid is the No.1 ranked batsman in the world, the highest ranked No.1 player of all time, which is an incredible achievement given the names that have been No.1 player in the world.
âLooking at the way that he played and the manner in which he has played since heâs come into the side, it truly has been incredible. Iâve played with Dawid for a very long time, and to see him get even better than he has performed in a Middlesex shirt and in a Yorkshire shirt is both great to see and adds a huge amount of value to an already strong batting line-up.â