England fringe players to get a chance in T20I series vs Pakistan: Morgan

NOTTINGHAM: England's white-ball skipper Eoin Morgan has indicated that he is prepared to give fringe players opportunities in the three-match T20I series against Pakistan in order to fine-tune the squad for the ICC T20 World Cup to be held in the United Arab Emirates and Oman later this year.

England recently won the three-match ODI series against the visitors with their second team after the first side had to self-isolate due to seven Covid-19 cases in the squad just before the series. Several second-team players gave commanding performances as England beat Pakistan 3-0.

Conceding that these are uncertain times, Morgan said ahead of the opening T20I at Nottingham later on Friday that, "Not knowing what is ahead of ourselves, we need to look more into a little bit more into strength in depth. You'll see us giving opportunities and going through various little options in the next three games for possible injury replacements for certain players within the group.

"100 per cent [there will be more rotation]. The priority throughout the series will be to give guys opportunities and treating it as though it is our last chance to look at guys in various positions. I still think the roles will be the same, but there will rotation throughout the squad," Morgan told ESPNcricinfo.com.

Three players who have stood out in the ODI series against Pakistan are fast bowler Saqib Mahmood, seam-bowling all-rounder Lewis Gregory and James Vince, who scored a century in the third ODI.

"They've done themselves the world of good, to be honest. The one thing you look at when guys come in and out is a marked improvement from the time they [first] get the opportunity to the time the next opportunity arrives. The two guys mentioned and [James Vince] were outstanding," added Morgan.

"I think everybody within the group was extremely proud to watch them play like they did, simply because it's the biggest compliment you can pay to anybody who played in the World Cup group, and the way we've played in the last five years has had such an impact on the game." IANS

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