Journey From An Aspiring Cricketer To A Charismatic Leader

Hello Friends,

We all respect leaders who inspire their respective teams or organizations in staging a turnaround from a relatively difficult phase. It takes a lot of courage, patience, grit & a thorough belief in the process that is going to take place in order to stage a comeback. At times desired results may take longer than usual or may not be as expected. Those are the times when a leader takes control of the proceedings & not only assures that the desired results are delivered but also ensures that the measures taken towards achieving the results are well planned & executed. To handle such a situation a leader needs to be calm, patient with people & above all gutsy enough to take risks. Today we are going to talk about one such great leader from the cricketing world in our segment 'The Unsung Heroes'(Click here for the previous article in this segment) who did a turnaround for his team to achieve one of the greatest feats in cricket.

Image Credit: www.davidmolloyphotography.com from Sydney, Australia, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

We are talking about Eoin Joseph Gerard Morgan(Full Name), popularly known as Moggie or Morgs among his teammates. He is the man who revolutionized English cricket & went on to win them their maiden 50 over World cup title in 2019 after a long wait of 44 years. What makes Morgan, the leader so special?? A passionate leader with a cool temperament & hunger for achieving excellence. An Irish-born who represented both Ireland & England in international cricket, started his career as a stroke making middle order batter at a very young age. His initial exploits with the bat made him a favourite to represent England in all three formats. But with a sequence of low scores during the initial phase of his test career saw him being out of favour in red ball cricket. This also presented an opportunity for him to stamp his authority in the shorter format of the game which he did to the perfection. He grew in stature with time not only in terms of his leadership abilities but also as one of the most prolific run scorers in the modern day cricket. Over the years he has played many match winning knocks against formidable opponents across the globe. His contribution as a batter besides his leadership attributes can not be ignored as far as change in fortune for English cricket in limited overs format is concerned.

Morgan is one of the most respected leaders of the modern day cricket. Simultaneously his innovative stroke making & composure as a finisher makes him a sought after player in various franchisee T20 tournaments across the globe. But did he get the fame overnight after winning the world cup? Does just winning an ICC Tournament make him a shrewd leader? The answer is no. Morgan, the leader has been a silent warrior over a course of over four years starting from 2015 when he was chalking out all the plans to make a change in the way English cricket has been played over the years. He was appointed the captain less than two months before 2015 ODI World cup after sacking of Alastair Cook. With no time to settle as a leader he had the tough assignment in front of him of leading England in World cup. They could not clear the group stage in 2015 World cup. That is where Morgan's journey towards ultimate success started. He is the chief architect in giving English cricket a much needed new look.

Image Credit: Ben Sutherland

An attacking mindset amongst the batters, flatter pitches at home, building a fearsome bowling attack with regular inclusion of two spinners, inclusion of players with allround abilities were some of the changes that he brought into the team. Some may debate whether his style was much inspired by Ricky Ponting's Australian team that won back to back world cups in 2003 & 2007 or Brendon McCullum's New Zealand side that tasted enormous success including securing a place in 2015 World Cup final. But whatever he did for the betterment of his team had a touch of fresh air that English cricket needed. Most importantly he led from the front. He built a strong team consisting of batters like Bairstow, Roy, Root, Buttler; match winning all rounders in form of Stokes,Woakes, Moeen Ali & last but not the least a fearsome bowling attack consisting of Archer, Adil Rashid, Wood to name a few. Like a true leader he ensured that most of the guys get a long run to establish themselves as match winners. England limited overs side with two spinners on a consistent basis is something never seen before. Post 2015 World cup he backed a core team keeping an eye on home World cup in 2019. He led from the front with a fearless approach whether it is batting or leading the side. His bold approach saw England climbing greater heights in white ball cricket. Crossing 400 run mark in ODIs, winning 12 bilateral series out of 13(9 in a row), defeating Australia 5-0 in a bilateral ODI series were some of the indicators of the incredible success that his team has enjoyed leading to that coveted World Cup win.

Taking over the reins in difficult circumstances & from there marching towards ultimate success is something that narrates the extraordinary journey Morgan had. But let's not judge his success only for winning a World Cup for his country. It's lot more than that. He has taken the English cricket team from being an average one to a dominating force. His perseverance, calmness, never say die attitude & above all the hunger for greater success are some of the traits that any young leader can pick up. The world would definitely like to see more from leader Morgan. With two back to back T20 world cups & a 50 over world cup lined up in next three years , we are definitely up for another Morgan show.