‘We were humiliated,’ English captain, Eoin Morgan told BBC about their disastrous performance in the 2015 World Cup edition.
England won only 2 matches which were against the minnows (Afghanistan and Scotland) and lost 4, including one against Bangladesh.
In an interview to BBC Radio 5 Live Morgan accepted that their approach in that particular World Cup wasn’t right. When teams were scoring 330 they were still in 290-300 mode.
“We were humiliated. There are two games which stand out for me in that World Cup which confirmed we were underprepared and so far off the mark – the first one being against New Zealand. We were bowled out for 123 and New Zealand knocked them off in 12.2 overs,” said Morgan.
England has not secured a place in a semi-final since World Cup 1992. Their last best performance was in 2011 when they reached into the quarter-finals. In 2015, they lost this opportunity after they were defeated by Bangladesh.
“The second moment was that game against Bangladesh. We were chasing 275, and we were more than capable of chasing it down – it was on a good wicket and against Bangladesh, who we had beaten previously in one-day series.
“When it came to every crunch moment in the chase, however, we fell short. We crumbled,” Morgan said.
Morgan also mentioned how much he was inspired by New Zealand Captain, Brendon McCullum after the World Cup was over.
“One of the best pieces of advice I got when I was given the captaincy was to be myself. I have played against and am very good friends with [former New Zealand skipper] Brendon McCullum.”
“If you look at his body language at any stage of any game it’s extremely positive, he’s always on the front foot and leading from the front regardless of the scoreboard or the situation of the game. I like to pick his brain. As a pure leader, he’s exceptional.”
Since the World Cup 2015, the team has completely transformed into the most attacking team of modern times. They have scored above 400 runs on 5 occasions when all other teams scored only once. They broke the record for the highest ODI total twice in this period.
Last year England scored 481 runs against arch-rivals Australia at Trent Bridge.
