Eoin Morgan said that Joe Root is certainly an option for the marquee tournament, given his previous record in the shortest format.
Joe Root was the top scorer for England in the 2016 edition of the T20 World Cup, which was also held in India. He was last featured in T20I in May 2019 with 249 runs at an average of 49.80.
Root is not included 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.
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 and hasn’t given up on his T20 ambitions yet.
England’s best batsman Joe Root will have to watch the T20I series from the sidelines but is expected to return for the ODI series later this month.
“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.
“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.
However, Morgan sounded optimistic about Root’s inclusion in the squad for the T20 World Cup.