Eoin Morgan has responded after Kevin Pietersen accused the England captain of being ‘scared’ and ‘weak’ during the World Cup defeat to Australia on Tuesday.
Morgan could score only four runs at Lord’s as his team succumbed to a 64-run defeat against their Ashes rivals Australia.
The 32-year-old southpaw produced a record-breaking century in last week’s win over Afghanistan but failed against Australia, top-edging pacer Mitchell Starc to deep fine leg early in his innings.
Pietersen felt Morgan looked ‘scared’ when facing Starc and said he had not seen a captain ‘show such a weakness for a while’.
“Oh no, Eoin Morgan looked scared! That is a horror sign,” Pietersen tweeted, before adding: “The England captain stepping to square leg when Starc bowled his first delivery to him made me think England could have a little problem over the next week or so.
I hope not, but I’ve not seen a captain show such a weakness for a while…”
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When Pietersen’s comments were read back by the reporters to Morgan following England’s defeat to Australia, he said: “Really? Excellent.”
Asked whether he agreed with Pietersen, Morgan responded: “No, no. It didn’t feel like that at all.”
Morgan & Co. now need to win at least one game out of their remaining two league matches – against India and New Zealand – to book a semi-final birth in the ongoing World Cup.
