South Africa’s former pacer Morne Morkel has been officially announced as the new bowling coach of Team India. His tenure starts on September 1 and continues till the conclusion of the ODI World Cup in 2027. India’s 2-match test series against Bangladesh will be Morkel’s first assignment as a bowling coach commencing from September 19 (Thursday).
This appointment marks the reunion of the experienced Morne Morkel and Team India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir. The former duo cricketers were teammates in the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) franchise for three Indian Premier League IPL seasons and were part of the coaching staff of Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) for two years.
Based on the latest reports, the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) secretary Jay Shah confirmed Morkel’s appointment on 14th August 2024 (Wednesday).
Morne Morkel has been a key fast bowler for South Africa. He played 247 international matches (86 Tests, 117 ODIs, and 44 T20Is) and took 544 wickets (309 in Tests, 188 in ODIs, and 47 in T20Is). His ability to bowl high-speed balls combined with toe-crushing yorkers and consistently aiming for good areas makes him a preferred choice as India’s bowling coach to guide the talented bowlers in the squad.
Why did BCCI appoint Morne Morkel as Team India’s Bowling Coach?
BCCI was constantly searching for a new bowling coach, who could be the eligible candidate to replace Paras Mhambrey, whose tenure was completed after the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024. Once Gautam Gambhir replaced Rahul Dravid as the new head coach of the Indian team, Morne Morkel became the top choice for this role.
Also, the decision-makers decided not to choose former Indian pacers such as Vinay Kumar or Lakshmipathy Balaji.
While Abhishek and ten Doeschate assisted India during the white-ball tour in Sri Lanka, Sairaj Bahutule was appointed as the interim bowling coach.
As Morne Morkel resides in Australia, there were uncertainties about whether he would join India’s coaching staff. But, the 39-year-old ex-South African cricketer showed his willingness to work with Gautam Gambhir, which includes other members of the staff such as Abhishek Nayar and Ryan ten Doeschate.
Notably, the BCCI preferred a foreign coach nearly over a decade after the former head coach Duncan Fletcher’s tenure from 2011 to 2015.
Morne Morkel’s Experience as Bowling Coach
Since Morne Morkel announced his retirement from international cricket in March 2018, he has been working with several teams as a bowling coach:
1. Bowling Consultant for Namibia:
During the ICC T20 World Cup 2022, Morne Morkel served as the bowling consultant for the Namibia cricket team. As usual, Namibia faced an early exit in the group stages of the tournament by winning just 1 out of 3 games.
2. Bowling Coach for New Zealand Women’s Team in T20 World Cup 2023:
Morne Morkel had a stint with the New Zealand women’s team as a bowling coach during the T20 World Cup 2023 in South Africa. Despite winning 2 out of 4 games with 4 points and a net run rate of +0.138, Sophie Devine’s led side wasn’t able to advance into the semi-finals due to a lesser net run rate than South Africa.
3. Pakistan Men’s Cricket Team Bowling Coach 2023:
During the Asia Cup 2023 and ODI World Cup 2023, Morne Morkel was the bowling coach of the Pakistan cricket team led by Babar Azam. Under the ex-Pakistan team’s coaching, the men-in-green faced a disastrous World Cup campaign by failing to qualify for the semi-finals and concluded in sixth position in the points table. This resulted in Morkel to part ways with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) six weeks before the completion of his tenure.
4. Bowling Coach for Lucknow Super Giants from IPL 2022–2024 Season:
Earlier, Morne Morkel as the Lucknow Super Giants bowling coach, worked with the team’s mentor Gautam Gambhir for two seasons in IPL. Under the guidance of these two experienced cricketers, KL Rahul’s led side qualified for two consecutive playoffs.
After Gambhir’s departure to Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2024, Morkel continued with the franchise for another year and worked with the new coach Justin Langer by nurturing young Indian talents such as Mayank Yadav.
5. Durban Super Giants Bowling Coach SA20 League 2023 and 2024:
Morne Morkel has been the bowling coach for Durban Super Giants in the SA20 league in 2023 and 2024. However, the team faced an elimination in the inaugural season and concluded as the runner-up in 2024.
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Conclusion:
Although, Morne Morkel’s records as a bowling coach aren’t impressive, his partnership with Gautam Gambhir has fetched decent results during the two IPL seasons with the LSG franchise.
Once again the collaboration of Gautam Gambhir and Morne Morkel will be exciting to watch as the cricketing world is eager to witness the duo’s contribution to the Indian team.
Gautam Gambhir as India’s head coach had sweet and sour moments in the recently concluded white ball series against Sri Lanka. He felt the essence of success in the shortest format under Suryakumar Yadav’s captaincy by achieving a clinical victory of 3-0 in the T20I series. But, he failed to replicate the same feat with Rohit Sharma, which resulted in Sri Lanka winning the ODI series by 2-0 against India after 27 years. As a result, Gambhir is waiting to attain his first success as head coach in the longer formats of cricket.
Finally, Gambhir and Morkel are set to start their first assignment in the upcoming home test series against Bangladesh and will be aiming for a massive victory in the red ball format. But the real challenge for the coaching staff is waiting this year in November when India will tour Australia for the 5-match test series in the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25.
