Eoin Morgan Retirement: England's world cup winning captain announces retirement from International Cricket

Eoin Morgan Retirement: Eoin Morgan, England's World Cup-winning captain, has announced retirement from international cricket, bringing down curtain on his glorious career. The 35-year-old, who had made his debut in 2006, is England's most successful captain in ODI and T20I cricket. 

Morgan had made his cricket debut in the Ireland cricket team and had joined England's squad in 2009.  He captained England in 126 matches, out of which they won 76 with a win percentage of 65.25. Under his captaincy, England lifted their first-ever ODI World Cup in 2019. He is also the most successful T20I captain, with his team winning 42 out of the total 72 matches. 

You’ve changed English cricket forever.

An innovator 🏏 A motivator 💪 A champion 🏆

Your legacy will live on...#ThankYouMorgs ❤️ pic.twitter.com/a32SSvCDXI

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) June 28, 2022

Eoin Morgan is also England's leading runscorer with 6957 runs in ODI cricket that includes 13 centuries and 2458 runs in T20I cricket with 14 half centuries.  Overall, Morgan has scored 7701 runs in ODI cricket and 14 centuries. He is the first cricketer to have scored a century for two countries. 

There were reports earlier itself that Eoin Morgan is set to retire from International cricket this week due to poor form and injuries. 

Eoin Morgan's retirement statement

Eoin Morgan said in a statement, "After careful deliberation and consideration, I am here to announce my retirement from international cricket with immediate effect. To call time on what has been without doubt the most enjoyable and rewarding chapter of my career hasn't been an easy decision, but I believe now is the right time to do so, both for me, personally, and for both England white-ball sides I have led to this point."

"It's been the most enjoyable time of my life."

Morgs' reflects on his incredible England career after announcing his international retirement 🏏#ThankYouMorgs

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) June 28, 2022

He further said, "I have been lucky enough to play in two World Cup winning teams, but I believe the future for England's white-ball teams is brighter than ever. We have more experience, more strength and more depth than ever before. I look forward to watching on with a huge level of excitement."

Speaking on what lies ahead for him, Morgan said, "I will continue to enjoy playing at a domestic level while I can. I'm really looking forward to playing and captaining London Spirit in the second edition of The Hundred this year."

The most amazing journey. Thank you all for your support. I’m extremely grateful for every minute 😃 pic.twitter.com/tARoeDs3Ct

— Eoin Morgan (@Eoin16) June 28, 2022

Eoin Morgan Form

Eoin Morgan had been struggling with poor form and fitness problems for quite some time. He has scored only two half-centuries in his last 28 international innings in limited-overs cricket. He registered two ducks in the recent ODI series against the Netherlands and pulled out of the third ODI due to a groin issue.

Morgan had said in one of the interviews before the Netherlands series, "If I don’t think I am good enough or I don’t feel I am contributing to the team, then I will finish." Morgan was also not picked during the IPL Mega Auction 2022, despite leading Kolkata Knight Riders in the last IPL season. He was quoted saying after not being picked for IPL, “It’s a fact that I haven’t scored enough runs. I am viewing it as a challenge … I will be using this break to recharge, but also to work on things that you don’t have time to work on during competition."

World's reaction to Eoin Morgan retirement reports

Several cricket fans took to Twitter as soon as the news broke that Eoin Morgan could be pondering retirement from International cricket. While some remember Morgan as a transformative player who revolutionised England cricket and the main reason why Engand are the World Cup holders, others rated him as one of the top 5 white ball cricket captains ever. 

ℂ𝔸ℙ𝕋𝔸𝕀ℕ. 𝕃𝔼𝔸𝔻𝔼ℝ. 𝕃𝔼𝔾𝔼ℕ𝔻 👑

Wishing @Eoin16 a happy retirement. pic.twitter.com/RjJWDwDOvA

— ICC (@ICC) June 28, 2022

What a man, what a player, what a legend!
Thanks for everything boss. @Eoin16 pic.twitter.com/XLnMOHxSCu

— Chris Woakes (@chriswoakes) June 29, 2022

Eoin Morgan: 10 Lesser Known Facts

1. Eoin Morgan was born in north-western Dublin, Ireland and had played for the Ireland cricket team in ODIs from 2006 to 2009. 

2. He is the first player to score an ODI hundred for two nations. 

3. He was named the England ODI Captain in December 2014 and led England to its first-ever World Cup triumph. 

4. He is the only England captain to have scored more than 4 ODI centuries. 

5. He is an all-time leading run scorer and most-capped player for England in both ODI and T20I matches.

6. He holds the England record for the fastest fifty in ODIs.

7. He scored the highest number of sixes in an ODI innings during the 2019 ICC World Cup with 17 sixes against Afghanistan.

8. Eoin Morgan is the only other captain besides MS Dhoni to have hit more than 200 International sixes. 

9. Morgan also holds the record of second most number of hundreds for England in ODI format, after Joe Root who has 16 centuries.

10. He became the first male cricketer for England to play in 100 T20Is (57 as captain), during the third match against India in March 2021. 

Eoin Morgan Stats: Batting Stats