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Morne Morkel Appointed as New Bowling Coach for Indian Men’s Team
“Morkel’s appointment was officially confirmed by BCCI secretary Jay Shah on Wednesday, after weeks of speculation.”
Morne Morkel, a former South African fast bowler, has been appointed as the new bowling coach for the Indian men’s national team. This significant move was announced by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
Morkel replaces former India fast bowler Paras Mhambrey in the role, completing the backroom staff led by Gautam Gambhir, along with assistant coaches Abhishek Nayar and Ryan ten Doeschate, and fielding coach T Dilip. As reported by ESPNcricinfo, Morkel emerged as the frontrunner for the job after being shortlisted alongside R Vinay Kumar, the former India seamer.
The appointment of Morkel, who until last December served as Pakistan’s bowling coach, was recommended by Gambhir, with whom he worked for two seasons (2022-23) at the Lucknow Super Giants in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the Durban Super Giants in the SA20.
One of Morkel’s immediate challenges will be to ensure that India’s fast bowling bench strength remains robust as the team prepares for a hectic home season of Test cricket, followed by a tough away tour of Australia towards the end of the year, where they will play a five-Test series for the first time since 1992.
It remains unclear whether Sairaj Bahutule, the former India leg-spinner who served as a bowling coach during the tour of Sri Lanka, will continue to be part of the wider support staff group. The team management is understood to be keen on building a pool of spinners outside of the established trio of R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Kuldeep Yadav, and Bahutule could potentially be involved as a spin consultant, even if not on a permanent basis.
Morkel, who played 86 Tests, 117 ODIs, and 44 T20Is during his illustrious 12-year international career, picking up 544 wickets, has since retirement worked as a bowling consultant with various teams, including Pakistan, Lucknow Super Giants, New Zealand’s women’s team, and more recently, Namibia’s men’s team at the T20 World Cup.
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