Eoin Morgan sat in a corner of the lounge sipping a mug of coffee when the personnel inside the security enclosure at the Lucknow airport got into an overdrive to create a “green channel” for the England team who were on their way to board a flight to Ahmedabad.

The Indians had left a while earlier, leaving a trail of chaos all around. There wasn’t much brouhaha about the Englishmen’s arrival.

Not recognising the former World Cup-winning England captain, he was courteously told to vacate the area. It was only when the plain-clothes cops were informed about the former white-ball captain did they relent.

Morgan though had been more than willing to make way for his one-time teammates.

There had been an air of uneasiness following Morgan questioning England’s team environment, who suffered their fifth loss in six matches on Sunday, but it was soon settled as head coach Matthew Mott showed much warmth and intimacy upon their chance meeting.

Morgan had suggested that the England camp was “unsettled” and that there was “something else going on” beyond players being badly out of form.

Morgan seemed aware that Mott had dismissed his criticism of the team environment. He only offered a wry smile when asked if he had anything more to add.

“I don’t think that, at all,” Mott had said after the loss to India.

“Anyone inside our tent would say despite our results, we’re an incredibly tight-knit unit to the point where Dave Humphreys, the former rugby international, was flabbergasted how tight the unit was when he came in for a week to observe us, given the results we’ve had.

“There’s every opportunity when you’re losing to splinter, but I can only say from my opinion the group’s been incredibly strong.

“You see our training sessions, they’re full of fun. People are putting their arms around each other trying to help them. It’s easy to do that when you’re winning but a lot harder when you’re losing. I’m proud we just keep trying to get up.”

Mott had worked with Morgan briefly after he took over as head coach in May 2022 before the then-captain quit 28 days later. Morgan knows this team inside out since he built it from scratch following the 2015 debacle.

“Eoin’s entitled to his opinion and he’s obviously been away for a couple of weeks with the birth of his child,” Mott added. “He hasn’t been in and around the rooms. I’ll certainly take that up with him and have a chat. We’ve got a really good relationship.”

Morgan’s claims had been rebuffed by Liam Livingstone too. “Everybody in that dressing room has got immense respect for Morgs. We all love Morgs, but hand on heart, there is nothing going wrong in the team,” Livingstone said.

It was unknown if Morgan and Mott touched upon the topic but both presented a cordial face during the conversation. They seemed to dismiss the mistrust that has been doing the rounds. Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes and Adil Rashid too joined in the tete-a-tete with their former captain.

As the players made their way to the bus on the tarmac, Jos Buttler too had a quick word with Morgan. Both shook hands and were locked in a tight hug before departing.

While a few of the travelling band of English supporters did try to attract the team’s attention with the Union Jack in hand, there was a lot of booing too from their Indian counterparts.

“Everywhere you go, everywhere you go, England get battered,” went the lyrics of the song the Indian supporters chanted.

But nothing could disturb the players and support staff as they seemed immune to the happenings around them.

England are in dire straits and could even miss out on a Champions Trophy 2025 berth which depends on finishing positions in the table here. Hosts Pakistan, plus the top seven finishers among the other teams at the World Cup, will qualify. England are currently placed last in the 10-team competition.