KKR is one of the best run teams in the IPL: Eoin Morgan

England’s World Cup-winning captain Eoin Morgan was on demand in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 auction in December last year. The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) secured his services eventually by shelling out a whopping amount of Rs 5.25 crores. The southpaw was supposed to be in India now to play for the franchise only for the Coronavirus pandemic to disrupt all the plans.

Morgan himself has confessed missing the IPL where he was set to rub the shoulders with the skipper Dinesh Karthik and the newly appointed coach Brendon McCullum. This was his new start in the cash-rich league having last played in 2017 edition for the Kings XI Punjab.

However, the Eoin Morgan still remembers his three-year stint with the KKR franchise. He was with the star-studded team from 2011 to 2013 and was also part of the squad which won the title in 2012 under Gautam Gambhir’s captaincy. No wonder he is excited to play for them again and has termed the KKR as one of the three most successful teams in the IPL.

I like their planning, says Eoin Morgan

“I was extremely excited, particularly going back to Kolkata. I had three seasons there that I thoroughly enjoyed before. They’re one of the best run teams, everything from the owners right down to the young players. I like the planning, and when you look at the IPL as a whole since the very beginning, they are one of three teams that has had the most success and it’s easy to see why they have,” Eoin Morgan told KKR’s official website.

Recalling the days when the KKR won the IPL for the first time, the 33-year-old states that he was stunned to witness the scenes in Kolkata. He still hasn’t forgotten the pure joy on the fans’ faces and the jam-packed Eden Gardens which welcomed the winning team.

“2012 was a pretty chaotic season, and being in a squad where you win it (the IPL) for the first time, you see the reaction when we returned to the city (Kolkata). I literally returned for a couple of hours and then flew out but people aligned the streets.

I remember Eden Gardens being full, all the pictures of the boys going around and doing lap of honour… Just to see the pure joy on peoples’ faces about how proud they were to support a team was amazing,” Morgan added.