South African Legend Morne Morkel Named as India’s New Bowling Coach

Gautam Gambhir took charge as Head Coach of the Indian men’s Cricket Team just after India won the T20 World Cup this year. After the long trophy drought, India is not satisfied with only one trophy. Instead, it expects many more to come soon. Thus, Gautam Gambhir’s job is not easy, but it is even more difficult than what Rahul Dravid, the former Indian coach, has done! Under such a situation, Morne Morkel has been announced as the bowling coach, creating new hope for cricket fans worldwide.

Indian cricket fans now expect a more significant role in sharpening India’s bowling department. Currently, the Test Championship is going on where India reached the final two times consecutively, yet couldn’t win it. As the new bowling coach, Morne Morkel can play a significant role here. Besides, the Champions Trophy is also coming close, and India is looking forward to achieving the trophy after almost a decade!

Let’s explore the potential of this new bowling coach to contribute to India’s ambition for success.

How was Morne Morkel as a Player and Coach?

Morne Morkel contributed to South African cricket for more than a decade and did his best to improve the level of this cricket. Starting in 2006, he played in all formats and performed incredibly. In 86 Test matches, he took 309 wickets with an economy rate of only 3.11. He also took 188 wickets with an economy rate of 4.96 in ODI cricket. In IPL, he also played with three different teams and performed brilliantly.

After sealing this fantastic journey in 2018, he started his career as a coach. Until December last year, he worked as the bowling coach of Pakistan, a team specializing in fast bowling for a long time. Even amid the disastrous performance, Pakistan’s bowling performance was still fair enough, and the failure of their batting department and poor game plan with poorer captaincy are often identified as the reasons behind their failure. However, he ended the contact with the Pakistan Cricket Board before it expired.

However, the “Gambhir-Morkel” duo is not new to cricket fans. Both worked as Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) mentors for almost two years, and Morkel stayed there even after Gambhir’s departure.

Apart from working in IPL, Morkel has worked in other teams and gained experience, which can help him and Indian Cricket. He also worked with Namibia and Durban’s Super Giants in his region. He also worked with the New Zealand Women’s Cricket team during the World Cup held in South Africa.

How Morkel Got Selected for This Role?

Gautam Gambhir is known as a strong personality who works in his own style. Therefore, the change in the coaching panel is not a surprise even after the successful tenure of the former head coach Rahul Dravid. The inclusion of Morne Morkel is undoubtedly incurred with the strong support of Gautam Gambhir, as the success of a new coach needs uniformity and proper chemistry in the coaching panel.

However, Morne Morkel’s choice was not just his; suggestions came from others like Laksmipathy Balaji and R Vinoy Kumar. Morkel’s connection with Gautam Gambhir in IPL also influenced this decision.

Challenges for Morkel as the Bowling Coach of India

According to reports, no one has questioned Morkel’s new position in India’s coaching panel. But the real challenge is supposed to come next. After the T20 World Cup success, India’s cricket is still undergoing different experiments, and everyone seems willing to give Gautam Gambhir some time. Besides, Indian cricket fans are now in a happy mood and waiting to celebrate more successes in the coming days, and this is the biggest challenge for everyone in Indian cricket, especially Gautam and the newly appointed Morne Morkel.

India is known as a crazy cricket nation where cricket is like a religion, and national cricket heroes are like the gods! After a long gap, they have achieved a mega trophy, and the nation expects more to come soon. When the highest success is the only thing people expect, the job becomes difficult for all.

Another thing to mention: after winning the T20 series by 3-0 with Sri Lanka, India lost the ODI series by 2-0 against the same opponent. The loss didn’t carry much criticism since the series was not that important. Still, for professional players, there is no way to take anything lightly when it becomes relevant to their profession. Besides, India is always confident about the backup players who couldn’t bring the best output even after collaborating with players like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and others. The concern for India’s success in the Champions Trophy gets deeper because it will be held in the ODI format, in which India’s last success was decades ago!

Morne Morkel may face another challenge with the spin bowlers since he was a fast bowler. The Indian Spin bowling department is strong enough but needs continuous nurturing.

Things That Can Make Morkel Confident

The responsibility is big since he is now in charge of the biggest cricketing nation! The decision itself is a recognition for him. Apart from that, his familiarity with Indian cricket and his previous collaboration with Gautam Gambhir is supposed to help him feel like he is part of a family.

Beyond the home, Indians often struggle in other conditions and become clues to set the right strategy. The long experience of Morkel as the national team bowler of South Africa can help him and India have the proper guidelines in such conditions.

Final Thoughts

India’s long cricket journey has come through many ups and downs. The relationship between India and South Africa in cricket is also prosperous and cordial, which has been further enriched by the participation of players from South Africa in IPL. Besides having regular bowlers like Bumrah and Kuldeep, the pipeline of Indian bowling is strong, too, as many talented bowlers are waiting to get a chance to prove their challenge.

Morkel’s job is to work with them and bring the best out of the unit. However, the cricket board and fans have welcomed Morne Morkel through formal statements and social media posts. Jay Shah, the secretary of the Indian Cricket Board, has expressed his confidence in him. Let’s see how he performs and works to fulfill the expectations of Indian cricket fans.