Edgbaston: England skipper Eoin Morgan could not hide his disappointment as the hosts’ dreams were shattered after Pakistan won the semi-final of ICC Champions Trophy on Wednesday.
“We left ourselves short in adapting to conditions. It’s a big frustration because I think we’ve played some great cricket in this tournament so far, and we weren’t anywhere close to it today,” Morgan remarked.
A Pakistan journalist tried to rub salt into his wounds by asking whether his team lost because of over confidence.
“Certainly not, not over confident. We played against some really good sides recently and we’ve managed to beat them. Certainly, that hasn’t gone to our heads at all. I think going into today’s game knowing that we were going to play on a used wicket potentially brought Pakistan’s game closer to their home. So it was a big challenge and one that was too far for us.”
It is a fact that England fans did not turn up in large numbers.
To a query as to why wasn’t there any home advantage, Morgan said: “I don’t think there was any home advantage. We knew that we were going to play on a used wicket at some stage in this tournament, and certainly we found out the other day that today was going to be on a used wicket. Having watched their game against Sri Lanka, we actually didn’t think it was that bad.”
Morgan wants England to build on this defeat and go and win the 2019 World Cup here. “You know, one of the huge contributing factors towards topping our table and playing very good cricket in the group stages is that we’ve stayed true to what we believe in and what’s worked for us the last couple of years, and I think that’s the continued formula for the future. I think it will have to evolve in whatever manner the game does over the next two years in the lead-in to the World Cup, but certainly I think we are moving in the right direction”
Answering to a query from Gulf News as to whether he expected to bowl out England for such a low score, Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmad said: “Actually, I was not expecting that we would bowl them out for 210. We had a meeting and we thought if we won the toss, we would bowl first and restrict them to 260 or 270. All credit goes to the bowlers. They bowled really well.”
Was it his best match as a captain? “I think this was the best game. That’s why we are in the final. No one thought we would do it, hence I am very happy at my team’s performance and all credit goes to my team management and my players,” he said.
