Eoin Morgan and Alex Hales all set to return for India series

England limited-overs skipper Eoin Morgan and opening batsman Alex Hales are all set to make a return for the India series. After the conclusion of the 5-match Test series, England are scheduled to play 3 ODIs and as many T20Is on the tour. The ODI series commences on January 15 at Pune. Earlier, both Morgan and Hales had backed out from the tour to Bangladesh citing security reasons.

There was a massive uproar among the critics on their decision. Some believed that they should not be allowed to feature on the India tour as well. However, the the director of England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) Andrew Strauss ruled out all such speculations. He clarified that the option to pull out from the tour was given to all.

And, more importantly, there would be no implications of it on the subsequent selections for the other tour. “It was a difficult process leading into the Bangladesh tour, and we told the players there wouldn’t be any recriminations for pulling out,” Strauss had quoted.

Now, Strauss reiterated that Eoin Morgan has done a great job for the country in the last few months. He has been an integral part of the ODI setup that has been richly rewarded. England had made it to the finals of the ICC World T20 held in India recently.

“I stand by what I said, and there is every reason to expect Eoin Morgan will come back in as captain against India. He’s done a great job with the one-day team over the last 18 months, and it has been a phenomenal transformation. He has to take a lot of credit for that, and we look forward to him continuing that,” quoted Andrew Strauss.

In the absence of Eoin Morgan, Jos Buttler was named the skipper of the England team. The young wicketkeeper-batsman had done an impressive job as the leader and won the series 2-1. It was under his leadership that England ended Bangladesh’s long streak of unbeaten home series wins.