'A leader par excellence' - Twitter lauds Eoin Morgan for his records and achievements after his retirement

After being in poor form with the bat for the last 12 months, England limited-overs skipper Eoin Morgan has decided to retire from international cricket leaving behind a big legacy in English cricket. The 35-year-old had earlier expressed his desire to be a part of the T20 World Cup 2022 squad down under and the Three Lions’ title defence in next year’s ODI World Cup, but has now changed his mind completely.

While Morgan’s captaincy has been a superhit in the last year, his batting has let him down. In fact, he bagged two consecutive ducks in the recently-concluded ODI series against the Netherlands and missed the third game citing a groin injury and that was the last time the Irish-born cricketer would don the England jersey again.

Eoin Morgan- The captain who ended England’s 44-year-old ODI World Cup drought

England had made the finals of the World Cup on three occasions in 1979, 1987, and 1992, but finished as the second-best side on all three occasions before Eoin Morgan’s vision not only ended their 50-overs World Cup drought but also saw them emerge as the most successful ODI team in modern-day cricket.

He was appointed England’s full-time limited-overs captain in 2014, but it was after the 2015 World Cup setback that England’s way of approach towards One Day Internationals changed completely. They were knocked out by Bangladesh in a must-win group fixture at the Adelaide Oval and he as well as the Three Lions were mercilessly criticized for showcasing underwhelming performances.

Post that debacle, Morgan along with the then director of England Cricket Andrew Strauss and coach Trevor Bayliss strategized on achieving greatness in the white-ball game and the results were there to be seen in the following years. Under his reign, England registered totals in excess of 400 on a few occasions and also registered world record ODI scores in 2018 – 461/6 against Australia before registering a new one in 2022 – 498/4 against the Netherlands.

Apart from all these, England are also one of the most consistent sides in ICC tournaments managing semifinal finishes in the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 and ICC T20 World Cup 2021, finishing as the runners-up in the 2016 T20 World Cup and of course winning the 2019 ODI World Cup at home.

Here’s how Twitterati reacted to Eoin Morgan’s retirement from international cricket: