New Delhi: Former South African fast bowler Morne Morkel has been appointed as the new bowling coach of India’s men’s cricket team. With the appointment of Morkel, the coaching staff of the Indian team is complete. Apart from head coach Gautam Gambhir, it includes fielding coach T Dilip and assistant coaches Ryan ten Doeschate and Abhishek Nair.
BCCI fulfilled Gambhir’s demand
Morne Morkel was at the forefront in the race to become the bowling coach. Apart from Morkel, former Indian fast bowler R Vinay Kumar was also selected for the bowling coach. Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah announced his appointment.
Morkel was the bowling coach of Pakistan till December 2023. His name was suggested to the board by Gambhir. Gambhir worked with Morkel in the Lucknow Super Giants team in two seasons of IPL and along with this he also worked with Morkel for Durban Super Giants in South Africa 20.
These challenges will be in front of Morkel
Initially, Morkel will face the challenge of the Indian team’s home Test tour, in which India has to play Test series against Bangladesh and New Zealand. Apart from this, India will also play a five-Test series in Australia later this year. India will play a five-Test series in Australia for the first time since 1992.
Former Indian team leg-spinner Sairaj Bahutule was part of the coaching staff of the Indian team on the Sri Lanka tour. The situation is not completely clear yet whether Bahutule will remain a part of the coaching staff or not. However, it is being speculated that the Indian team management is in favor of preparing a group of spin bowlers apart from Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin and Kuldeep Yadav. In such a situation, if Bahutule is not included permanently, then he can be given the role of spin consultant.
International career of Morne Morkel
Morkel has played 86 Tests, 117 ODIs and 44 T20 matches in his 12-year international career. During this time he took 544 wickets. Not only this, apart from coaching the LSG and Pakistan teams, he has also worked with the New Zealand team in the 2023 Women’s T20 World Cup. Also, he has also worked with the Namibia team in the recently held Men’s T20 World Cup.
