Morgan over the moon with idol Tendulkar's 'fantastic' accolades

London, Jun 17 (ANI): England left handed batsman Eoin Morgan has admitted that it feels really fantastic to get mentioned as a key man in England's Ashes defence by cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar.

Master blaster Tendulkar favoured England beating Australia to retain the Ashes, and picked Kevin Pietersen, Eoin Morgan, and Graeme Swann to play key roles in their victory.

"The key members for England will be Pietersen and Morgan, and in the bowling department Swann. Then after that you have the experience of Andrew Strauss, so they can do something special in Australia," said Tendulkar.

Morgan, 23, could hardly believe his ears that Tendulkar had hailed him in such glowing terms, The Sun reports.

"It's a bit weird for someone of Sachin Tendulkar's stature to say something like that. For him to mention my name at all is fantastic, a bit remarkable to be honest.

"I learned a huge amount from watching players like him in the Indian Premier League earlier this year," Morgan said.

"We had players like Rahul Dravid and Jacques Kallis in my team in Bangalore and watching them practice, prepare and in match situations was an education," he added.

England take on Scotland on Saturday and then face five one-day matches against Australia before the Ashes battle begins in November. (ANI)