Eoin Morgan opens up on Joe Root's T20 World Cup chances

Eoin Morgan has opened up about Test skipper Joe Root's chances of breaking into England's T20 World Cup squad. On Thursday, Morgan said that Root is certainly an option for the marquee tournament, given his previous record in the shortest format.

Joe Root last appeared in a T20I in May 2019. He was the top-scorer (249 runs at an average of 49.80) for England in the 2016 edition of the T20 World Cup, which was also held in India.

Currently, there doesn't seem to be a place for Root in the top-order, which already includes the likes of Jonny Bairstow, Jason Roy, and Jos Buttler. Moreover, Root's constant preoccupation with the Test side coupled with England's rotation policy has played its part as well.

However, Morgan sounded optimistic about Root's inclusion in the squad for the T20 World Cup.

"When we look back to the 2016 World Cup campaign that led to us going to the final, Joe was a huge part of that. Due to the schedule restrictions, Joe needs rest. It's a very huge amount of strain doing what he does being our very best batsman and also being the Test captain at the same time. Certainly, Joe could be an option come the World Cup," said Eoin Morgan at a press conference.

#OnThisDay in 2016, England pulled off the biggest successful chase in @T20WorldCup history 🔥 👀 pic.twitter.com/QyYSYuaGrR

— ICC (@ICC) March 18, 2020

Overall, Joe Root has featured in 32 T20Is, scoring 893 runs at an average of 35.72 and a strike rate of 126.31.

Joe Root hopes to be part of England's T20 World Cup squad

Joe Root

Joe Root has previously said that he hasn't given up on his T20 ambitions yet. In an interview with BBC’s Test Match Special in February, Root had remarked that even though he's aware of the abundance of talent in the current team, he would love to be a part of it himself.

“Absolutely, I would love to be a part of that World Cup squad, I love playing all three formats, everything is a different challenge. I haven’t had the opportunity to play a huge amount of T20 games in the last few years, but I am also aware of the guys who are playing some amazing cricket, they are brilliant players and fully deserve their chance. But if I get an opportunity, all I can do is try to score as many runs as I can when it comes to T20 games,” said Joe Root.

Joe Root was England's best batsman in the recently-concluded Test series against India. He will have to watch the T20I series from the sidelines but is expected to return for the ODI series later this month.

This place tomorrow 🏟Under lights 💡With fans 🔊😍 pic.twitter.com/OwhROapuvc

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) March 11, 2021