New Delhi. Former South African veteran fast bowler Morne Morkel has been appointed as the new bowling coach of the Indian cricket team. Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah confirmed this to PTI on Wednesday. With this, the process of appointing the preferred support staff of new head coach Gautam Gambhir has also been completed.
It is understood that 39-year-old Morkel, who replaced Paras Mhambrey, will join the team with the series against Bangladesh. The first Test against Bangladesh will be played in Chennai from September 19. He has been appointed till the end of the 2027 ODI World Cup to be held in South Africa. Shah told PTI, “Yes, Morne Morkel has been appointed as the bowling coach of the senior Indian men’s team.” Other members of Gambhir’s support staff are assistant coach Abhishek Nair and fielding coach Ryan Ten Doeschate.
Morkel was the first choice of new head coach Gambhir. Both have worked together in the IPL team Lucknow Super Giants. Morkel has played 86 Tests, 117 ODIs and 44 T20 Internationals for South Africa in which he took a total of 544 international wickets.
The former fast bowler will report to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru early next month and is expected to watch some Duleep Trophy matches. Upon reaching there, he will also be in touch with VVS Laxman and NCA bowling head Troy Cooley.
According to sources, Morkel has been appointed directly on the recommendation of Gambhir, over options like Lakshmipathy Balaji and R Vinay Kumar.
A BCCI source told PTI on the condition of anonymity, “The job of the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) was to interview candidates for the head coach. When it came to selecting the support staff, it was important to give priority to Gambhir’s choice. He has worked with Morne and likes him a lot as a bowling coach.” He said, “Apart from this, there is a big series against Australia in the last week of November, so there is no better option than this South African who has achieved a lot of success there. Apart from this, there will also be a five-Test tour of England next year where the sixth match will be played if India reaches the World Test Championship final.” It is understood that when it became clear that Morkel would carry forward Mhambrey’s role, the names of Balaji and Vinay Kumar were not discussed.
Morkel, who forms a lethal fast bowling pair with Dale Steyn, has also played a lot of cricket in India and has a good knowledge of the conditions here. Also, being a part of IPL teams, he has a good knowledge about India’s next fast bowling generation which includes bowlers like Mayank Yadav, Avesh Khan and Yash Thakur.
People believe that Morkel has worked a lot with Mayank in the last two seasons of IPL, although the fast bowler remained injured most of the time. The biggest challenge for Morkel will be to deal with the transition phase as Mohammed Shami is entering the last phase of his illustrious career and Jasprit Bumrah needs another good partner other than Mohammed Siraj, especially in red ball cricket.
Morkel worked with the Pakistan team till the end of the ODI World Cup last year but left the post before his contract ended. The Indian team has never had a spin bowling coach. However, former director Ravi Shastri used to bowl left-arm spin when he played. Also, Sairaj Bahutule, who is part of Laxman’s team at the NCA, has been traveling with the senior team from time to time.