Kolkata Knight Riders captain Eoin Morgan has revealed the two names who will be opening the batting for Rajasthan Royals in the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League.
In an interview with Sky, Morgan reflected on England’s recent tour of India and the side’s performances in the limited-overs format, and conversely revealed that England’s duo of Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler would open for the Royals in IPL 2021.RELATED STORIESIND vs ENG | Can’t blame our group for 1st ODI defeat: Eoin MorganIND vs ENG | Eoin Morgan ruled out of ODI series, Jos Buttler named captainIPL 2021 | Harbhajan Singh will bolster our spin department: KKR captain Eoin MorganI know Indian cricketers who want to play in ‘The Hundred’ and other leagues: Eoin MorganPrevNext
“The more opportunities we’ve (England) given to Jos (Buttler), the better he has got. Very similar instance to Ben (Stokes). The guys just keep getting better and better and better, so it’s our responsibility and the team’s responsibility to present opportunities to them in the biggest moments of the game,” Morgan said.
“Obviously, the two of them will be opening for Rajasthan (Royals) this year in the IPL so that’s going to be great to watch. But in a team where you have two superstars opening the batting, as an opposition, I’m thinking, ‘Well, better start well!”
Morgan, then, switched back to talking about England, insisting that a similar move may not be beneficial for the international side.
“When you come back to our batting lineup, we need to have that strength and depth in all the areas to win the game. When you throw your two top batsmen at the top, you’re heavily weighted and throwing all your chips at one area of the game, as opposed to trying to space it out. Watching the game unravel, (you need to) try to get your best players in the most important part of the game.”
Rajasthan Royals will be led by wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju Samson in this edition of the tournament, after the franchise released Steve Smith ahead of the IPL auction.
Smith was eventually bought by previous year’s finalists Delhi Capitals on his base price of INR 2 crore
