‘He hasn't done anything except talking’ – Virender Sehwag criticises KKR’s Eoin Morgan for underperforming in IPL 2021

Former Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag reckoned that Eoin Morgan, the Kolkata Knight Riders’ skipper, hasn’t contributed much, especially with his batting. The Knights roped in Morgan ahead of the auction in 2020 and then made him the skipper, replacing Dinesh Karthik. Although he has done reasonably well as the captain, Morgan has strained to perform with the bat in hand.

In the first 15 games of IPL 2021, Morgan scored a mere 124 runs at an average of 12.40 and a strike rate of 102.47. In fact, among the regular KKR batters, Morgan had the lowest batting average. Sehwag was clear cut in saying that the Knights may not retain the England limited-overs skipper going into the mega auction in 2022.

We have not seen anything special from him, says Virender Sehwag

“KKR’s captain (Eoin Morgan) has not scored even 20-25 runs consistently. He has not contributed much. Last year, KKR changed their skipper midway, but I am not sure if they will retain him before the mega auction,” Sehwag was quoted as saying on Cricbuzz.

“It will be interesting to see if he ever plays for Kolkata again because he has played for so many teams but he hasn’t done anything except talking. But when you are the captain, you need to score runs as well. We have not seen anything special from him so far,” he added.

Although Morgan’s exploits in the IPL haven’t been all that great, he has garnered quite a few laurels for the Three Lions in the international level. Back in 2019, the southpaw guided the Brits to their maiden 50-over World Cup title. In the final, they beat New Zealand at the Lord’s Cricket Ground. The game was decided by the boundary count rule after the Super Overs were tied.

After the IPL, Morgan will stay in the UAE to play in the 2021 edition of the T20 World Cup, scheduled to get underway on October 17 in Oman and the UAE. Two months ago, Morgan had a torrid time in the inaugural edition of The Hundred as well. He led the London Spirit, who failed to go beyond the first round.