
Morne Morkel has been appointed India’s new bowling coach through Gautam Gambhir’s mentorship, taking over Paras Mhambrey.
The selection of Morne Morkel, a retired South African bowler, as the new bowling coach of the Indian cricket team is one of the most important moves in Indian cricket history. The announcement by Jay Shah, the BCCI Secretary, is the first in the coaching staff after the T20 World Cup win.
Morkel, the one who has 544 wickets, is one of these cricket stars who will join the team with the new coach, Gautam Gambhir.
Morkel Takes Over from Mhambrey
Morkel’s decision is an integral part of the wider restructuring of the coaching department, as the Indian cricket team brings in new faces to lead the squad. He takes over where Paras Mhambrey had been before him.
The latter had been a strategist for ex-head coach Rahul Dravid and the Indian cricket team in their successes, like winning the 2024 T20 World Cup. Mhambrey and Rahul Dravid bid farewell to the team, leaving behind a legacy of triumph, and now the baton has been passed to Morkel.
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Proteas Pacer to Indian Coach
Morkel’s journey from a cricketer who was so feared that even the fastest bowlers in the world were his teammates to become a head coach himself constitutes an exemplary achievement. Morkel, a man synonymous with fast deliveries and good bounces, was part of a formidable trio with Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander and went on to dominate the international cricket scene for almost ten years.
His tenure playing in all three formats of the game, let’s say, 86, 117, and 44, respectively, was his area of expertise, which will be a great support for the Indian coach staff.
After finishing his career in international cricket at the tender youthful age of 33, Morkel then took on a role in coaching. The very first large-scale project that the team handled was the training of the Pakistani national team. Here he emerged as a champion who worked his butt off and built a deadly bowling unit having Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, and Naseem Shah as the prime spearheads – he was basically responsible for its presence.
His exposure to all three types of the game, for example, 86 Tests, 117 ODIs, and 44 T20ls, will become a valuable means of communication for the Indian coach staff.
Gambhir’s And Morkel’s Proven Partnership
The appointment of Morkel as the team’s bowling coach is due to his excellent friendship with Gautam Gambhir. They both had been teammates at Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and then played together at Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Gambhir, the retired cricketer, always says that he would rather be an Indian coach than a foreign one; without any doubt, Morkel was preferred by him, which was a reflection of his experience and intellect as a former Indian player, especially in Indian conditions.
Indian pitches, which he knows his way around as he performed well in them during the IPL when KKR won the 2014 titles, are the source of his purview. His phasing-in of new quick bowlers like Mayank Yadav, Avesh Khan, and Yash Thakur while he was coaching LSG contributed significantly to the team’s success.
The Road Ahead: Challenges and Opportunities
The first project undertaken by Morkel on the Indian cricket team including players like Virat Kohli, who is Google’s favourite cricketer, Rohit Sharma and others will be the home Test series in Bangladesh starting on the 4th of September in Chennai.
His bowling coach career will last until the 2027 ODI World Cup, when he will perform at home in South Africa. In these years, Indian cricket will be most affected, as the team has to travel through some big tours. The most important is the five-Test series against Australia later this year and the probable WTC final staged in England next year.
One of Morkel’s main challenges is the transition phase of the Indian fast-bowling team. However, with Mohammed Shami almost at the end of his career and Jasprit Bumrah having injury issues, Morkel faces the duty of preparing the next set of fast bowlers to play with Mohammed Siraj in red-ball cricket. His work of transferring his skills to Pakistan team will be the most helpful as he goes to take on this very important job.
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The Gambhir-Morkel Vision: Building a Dominant Bowling Attack
The appointment of Morkel should never be seen as a stand-alone event because it is an important part of Gambhir’s vision for the Indian cricket team. The threesome consists of Morkel himself, assistant coach Abhishek Nayar, and the fielding coach Ryan Ten Doeschate, who has worked with Gambhir in the past. The shared expectation is to create a highly effective sports team that will dominate all international formats depending on the needs of the tournament.
The world of cricket will be witnessing as Morkel gets ready to join the Indian cricket team, and the coming years will be a fresh start for the themed Indian cricket. His rich experience and Gambhir’s tactical foresight ensure that Indian cricket will be propelled to greater heights. Although the journey ahead is full of challenges, with Morkel in the leadership of the bowling department, the future of Indian cricket looks bright.
References:
https://www.livemint.com/sports/cricket-news/south-african-pacer-morne-morkel-appointed-as-new-bowling-coach-of-team-india-bcci-secretary-jay-shah-11723632535813.html
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/sports/south-african-pacer-morne-morkel-named-indias-bowling-coach/articleshow/112524883.cms?from=mdr
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/cricket/news/morne-morkel-appointed-team-indias-bowling-coach/articleshow/112522848.cms
https://thetatva.in/sports/morne-morkel-to-be-indias-new-bowling-coach/55644/
https://www.newindianexpress.com/sport/cricket/2024/Aug/14/ex-south-african-pacer-morne-morkel-appointed-as-indias-bowling-coach
