Abu Dhabi T10 League – Eoin Morgan step back in time as New York Strikers beat Deccan Gladiators

Morgan may be past his prime and in the twilight of his career, but he has turned back the years and done his job at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium. The former England captain came on after Josh Little sacked Andre Fletcher in the first game and guided his side to their second win in three games, 23 42 games unbeaten.

The game was balanced until Morgan and Azam Khan scored 19 for Oden Smith in the penultimate over, with the forwards needing just six for the final over. Although Little took the game down to the last bowl, Azam flicked the last ball away to give the strikers a one-run win.

“I think the situation is different than it has been in previous years,” Morgan said. “The few games we’ve played before maybe with more bounce and more speed on the pitch, that’s good for the game, but it’s just a case of adaptation. Today, the wicket was a bit slow because it was a game. Day races, so I think it will only take a few days to adjust.

For Morgan, after a stint working for Sky Sports during the T20 World Cup, he admits it was great to be back in midfield this past week.

“Yeah, I still love playing the game,” he said. “It’s obviously a completely different challenge to international cricket. The level of expectation is gone. I’m here to enjoy myself.”

“I’m a big T10 fan and I love coming,” Morgan said. “It’s just a fun game and all the overseas players love coming here. Abu Dhabi is a great place to play and tour. One of the things about being in a T10 game is that it exposes everything that a T20 game exposes in a given period, So when you look at powerplay and death bowling – two of the biggest moments in T20 cricket. You have a lot in T10.

The Abu Dhabi Cricket and Sports Center has seen an influx of England players over the past week, joining the Test squad and the town’s touring Lions. Around 60 England men’s cricketers have been enjoying the facilities and after seeing the Red Ball facilities flourish of late under the leadership of his good friend Brendon McCullum, Morgan admits he is enjoying it , but also sorry.

“I still watch them and I’m so jealous of the way they play and their attitude to the game. It’s a totally free-spirited attitude that epitomizes Brandon and Stokes,” Morgan said. “For years we’ve been trying to play defensively and traditionally and try to hit the ball long and it didn’t work, so he took the initiative to change some things that worked for the people he brought in, hoping the success would last long-run .It definitely has short term.

As England embark on their first trip to Pakistan in 17 years, the World Cup-winning captain shared his excitement at seeing Bazball in action in Pakistan.

“Yes, absolutely [it’s exciting]”We experienced it when we first started our shift in over-50 cricket and it was actually more interesting to see how the opposition reacted and how they changed because of it. Ability to make the opposition really think In Test cricket you usually have a plan A and stick to it for as long as possible. But against this England team, you need more than a Plan A. “