Considered to be one of the most destructive middle-order batters in the game, former England captain Eoin Morgan is doing his thing with aplomb at the sixth season of the Abu Dhabi T10. An unbeaten 42 from 23 deliveries against the Deccan Gladiators not only helped his side win with ease but also gave him the Player of the Match prize.
Morgan is not new to explosive cricket, and certainly not alien to the T10 format. "I am huge fan of the T10 format and it's a fun tournament to be part of. We realise that the tournament has gone from strength to strength in recent years.
What playing in the T10 does is that it exposes everything there is exposed in a certain period of a T20 game. So, when you look at the power play or death bowling, the two biggest. Moments in T20 cricket I think you have them in abundance.
In T10 cricket you don't have a lot of time to think about what you're doing. You're always trying to take on more risk which is difficult at times." Morgan also explained that at times the toughest aspect of the T10 format is to continue to take risks.
"If you've taken a risk and you make a mistake then the hardest thing is to encourage guys to continue to take risks and back them and support them to do so. That's what T10 does." Speaking about the challenges and conditions at the Abu Dhabi T10 this year, Morgan said he noticed a significant change in the ground conditions.
"I think conditions have been a little bit different to say the least, last year or the years that I've played here before and the couple of games that we've played, there was a little bit more bounce in the pitch, which we were surprised by and a bit more pace, which is great for the game, but it's just adapting to what guys have been practicing too and expecting."
However, England's only ODI World Cup winning captain said that the challenge of the conditions will play a bigger role in the later half of the tournament. "It's the back end of the tournament that will be back to where things are because the conditions are in many ways the surrounds of the condition, so the due factor, the ball getting wet in the evening is still there.
I think it's just adapting to the level of pace and bounce on the pitch which I don't think many people expected."