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England\u2019s World Cup-winning former captain Eoin Morgan believes it would be \u201cnaive\u201d to call on Jofra Archer in this year\u2019s tournament.<\/p>\n
Archer played a key role in securing the trophy for Morgan\u2019s men four years ago, topping the wicket charts and delivering the nail-biting super over in the Lord\u2019s final.<\/p>\n
But the Barbados-born seamer has played just seven ODIs since that day, with a litany of fitness problems making him a regular in the treatment room while he has not featured competitively since the IPL in May.<\/p>\n
He is scheduled to join up with England shortly as a reserve player \u2013 partially to oversee his continued rehabilitation from a stress fracture of the elbow and partially as a potential injury replacement if required.<\/p>\n
Should one of England\u2019s chosen seamers go down during the lengthy trip around India, there is hope that Archer could step into the breach and play a part in the business end of the competition, but Morgan has urged caution over that idea.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not something that I\u2019m thinking would be a good idea,\u201d said Morgan, who is in India as an ICC World Cup ambassador.<\/p>\n
\u201cRight here and now I don\u2019t know because he\u2019s not played and we don\u2019t know what he\u2019s capable of. Given the injury issue that he\u2019s had in recent times I think it would be naive of anybody to think just chuck him in whenever you can because we\u2019re either desperate or feel that you need an option.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously the feedback about when he\u2019s trained with the team has been that he\u2019s back bowling beautifully, but you would like to see that in a game, you would like to see that in a continuous performance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Morgan\u2019s successor as skipper, Jos Buttler, offered no new clues about Archer\u2019s status but confirmed he would be in the country shortly and linking back up with his team-mates.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s coming out soon. The plan is obviously to finish off the rehab stages of coming back from his injury,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s continuing to build up and rehab and that\u2019s a great place for him to be able to do that in and around the squad. Obviously if he builds up and everything then should the worst case happen (to another bowler) it\u2019s a conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Morgan, meanwhile, gave a wholehearted endorsement of Ben Stokes\u2019 importance to England\u2019s title defence. Like Archer, he was essential in 2019, when his never-say-die attitude carried the eventual champions back from the brink in the final.<\/p>\n
Having reversed his ODI retirement to take part he has been laid low by a hip problem since arriving.<\/p>\n
But Morgan believes his presence carries even more weight than it did previously, given the achievements he has racked up along the way as a T20 world champion and inspirational Test captain.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs he as influential as he was? Even more so I\u2019d say,\u201d said the Irishman.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe just continues to deliver when the team needs and creates belief and confidence around that and if you play with a guy that has already crossed the finish line on numerous occasions, and speaks in straight lines and not riddles, it\u2019s genuine.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the thing that we can\u2019t measure when it comes to Ben is how much he contributes in the changing room and how much he makes other players better around him.\u201d<\/p>\n