England skipper Eoin Morgan has backed Jonny Bairstow by saying that the wicketkeeper-batsman is entitled to his opinion.
Bairstow recently said that there were a lot of people who were waiting for England to fail in the ongoing World Cup.
Chaos overshadowed the English camp as soon as the pre-tournament favourites England lost back-to-back matches to Sri Lanka and Australia which saw their campaign getting derailed.
“He’s entitled to his opinion, like critics are. That’s the way he feels,” Morgan said at the pre-match press conference.
“People were waiting for us to fail. They are not willing us on to win, in many ways, they are waiting for you to get that loss, so they can jump on your throat. It’s a typical English thing to do, in every sport,” ESPNcricinfo had quoted Bairstow as saying.
After England’s loss to Australia, former skipper Michael Vaughan had suggested that getting eliminated at the group stage would mark their worst World Cup campaign while Kevin Pietersen criticised Morgan, saying the captain was “backing away” from Mitchell Starc’s bowling.
“I think critics are there to be critical. We haven’t performed well, so they are going to be critical. They’re entitled to their own opinion.
“I think the support that we’ve had from our fans and everybody around the country has been unbelievable. It has been outstanding. There’s been an enormous amount of good faith and goodwill going around,” said Morgan.
The 32-year-old skipper also said that they (England team) have failed as a group in adapting to conditions.
“No, I can’t fault the commitment or application that the guys have produced in every single game. Where we’ve let ourselves down as a group is adapting to conditions.
“It’s been a bigger challenge in this World Cup than previous bilateral series that we’ve played, so tomorrow is going to be exactly the same,” said Morgan.
England have 8 points from 7 matches and are struggling to find a place in the final 4. They face India on Sunday, 30 June, and New Zealand next on 3 July.
In order to make it to the semis comfortably, England need to win both their remaining matches, else have to rely on their fortune.