Former South Africa pacer Morne Morkel has been brought in as the Indian cricket team’s new bowling coach, BCCI secretary Jay Shah told PTI on Wednesday. This marked the completion of new head coach Gautam Gambhir’s preferred support staff. Morkel is expected to begin his tenure with the opening Test between India and Bangladesh in Chennai from September 19. He has been appointed till the end of the 2027 ODI World Cup in South Africa.
Morkel was also Gambhir’s preferred choice, having worked with him at Lucknow Super Giants during the Indian’s 2 IPL seasons as mentor of the franchise. He will be reporting in Bengaluru’s National Cricket Academy at the start of next month and is expected to watch the Duleep Trophy games.
According to sources, Morkel was directly appointed on Gambhir’s recommendation ahead of other options like Lakshmipathy Balaji and R Vinay Kumar.
“The Cricket Advisory Committee’s (CAC) mandate was to interview the candidates for the head coach. When it came to choice of support staff, it was imperative that Gambhir’s choice prevailed. He has worked with Morne and thinks of him highly as a bowling coach,” a BCCI source told PTI.
“Also with the big series against Australia coming up Down Under from last week of November, there isn’t a better choice than the South African, who has himself enjoyed fair bit of success over there. Also there will be the five-Test tour of England next year with a potential sixth match if India reach WTC final,” the source added.
Morkel’s biggest challenge as bowling coach will be to handle the transition phase as Mohammed Shami enters the business end of his illustrious career and Jasprit Bumrah needs more potent support apart from Mohammed Siraj, especially in red-ball cricket.
