Gautam Gambhir (left) and Morne Morkel. (BCCI Photo)
Morne Morkel is a frontrunner to join Gautam Gambhir’s coaching staff but it’s unlikely to happen before the T20Is, ODIs vs Sri Lanka
Morne Morkel is a strong candidate to become India’s next bowling coach and it’s understood that the discussions are underway between the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and former South Africa seamer.
The 39-year-old, under the recommendation of head coach Gautam Gambhir, is very likely to join the Indian cricket team after the upcoming T20Is and ODIs vs Sri Lanka.
“The formalities haven’t been completed yet but they will hopefully be done soon and Morne Morkel is likely to come on board after the Sri Lanka series,” says a source tracking developments.
Names of Vinay Kumar, Lakshmipathy Balaji and Zaheer Khan have also been doing rounds for the bowling coach role but Gambhir has put his weight behind Morkel. The two have worked together at Lucknow Super Giants in the past where Gambhir was the mentor and Morkel served as the bowling coach.
In the past, Gambhir has repeatedly hailed the South African as the best bowler he has faced and the two enjoy a very good working relationship. Something that was visible during their time together at LSG too.
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The Indian bowlers part of the LSG squad have enjoyed working with Morkel and are a big fan of his ability to remain very calm and patient.
“Bahut calm banda hai yaar (he is very calm). It was our good fortune to work with him at LSG. Even when the days are bad, which is quite common in T20s, he would hardly discuss about what went wrong. It always was what was right and how we can make it consistent,” says a young Indian seamer who has been part of LSG camp for three years.
Even Avesh Khan has credited Morkel for helping him make the technical adjustments, and how he taught him plenty of variations required to be ahead of the batters in this format.
Morkel has some international coaching experience under his belt as he served as the bowling coach of the Pakistan team for close to about months.
Dilip likely to be retained; Nayar, ten Doeschate new entrants
While there has been no official word from the Indian cricket board yet, it’s being widely reported that fielding coach T Dilip will retain his position as fielding coach and Abhishek Nayar and Ryan ten Doeschate are strong candidates to join the side for the Sri Lanka series.
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The Indian team is set to leave for Sri Lanka from Mumbai on Monday and chairman of men’s senior selection committee Ajit Agarkar and new head coach Gambhir will address the media before the side’s departure.
It remains to be seen whether the support staff appointments are made official during the interaction with media as the BCCI has maintained complete silence so far.
