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Morgan, Hales back in limited overs squad

Morgan will captain England in the ODI and Twenty20 series against India

Morgan will captain England in the ODI and Twenty20 series against India

Image courtesy of: Zimbio

Eoin Morgan and Alex Hales have been recalled to England’s limited overs squads after they opted to skip the tour of Bangladesh.

Morgan will retain his position as ODI and Twenty20 captain, while opening batsman Hales has been included in both sides as well.

The duo decided against travelling to Bangladesh in September due to security concerns after the terrorist attack on the Holey Artisan Bakery cafe in Dhaka in July, which left 20 people dead.

With the pair having withdrawn while all their fellow team-mates went to the country, there had been speculation that they would be dropped for the limited overs series against India in January-February, but those rumours have now been put to bed.

While Morgan and Hales regained their spots, there was no place in the side for batsman Ben Duckett as he struggled in the Test series against Bangladesh and in the ongoing five-Test series against India.

However, his ODI statistics tell a different story as he has scored 123 runs, which includes two fifties, at an average of 41 in the three ODIs he has featured in to date.

“There was a lot of discussion around Duckett,” England head coach Trevor Bayliss said. “He did well in Bangladesh, and if we had left someone else out they would have been desperately unlucky as well.

“Duckett has done himself no harm. He has shot up the pecking order and is right there or thereabouts.

“We took the opportunity (in Bangladesh) to blood some younger players, who did well. We have done pretty well over the last 18 months in white-ball cricket, and the team has been reasonably stable and successful. There is no reason to change.

“(Duckett) has done well for himself, but we thought we would show a bit of solidarity with the team we have had and done so well.”

When he receives the opportunity, Bayliss has confirmed that he will speak to Duckett and remind the 22-year-old that he has achieved a great amount since making his international debut on October 7.

“It is always difficult to leave someone out like that,” he said. “(But) sometimes change for change’s sake means that someone in the team would have been bitterly disappointed and asking questions why they were left out.

“I have not had the chance to speak to him yet, but my message to him will be ‘mate, well done, you have had a fantastic start and see this as the beginnings of a career … keep going out and scoring runs because you are right there or thereabouts’. He has something about him that I think is quite exciting for England cricket.”

England ODI squad: Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Liam Dawson, Alex Hales, Eoin Morgan (capt), Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, David Willey, Chris Woakes.

England Twenty20 squad: Moeen Ali, Jake Ball, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Liam Dawson, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Tymal Mills, Eoin Morgan (capt), Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, David Willey.

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