How can Indian bowling improve with the coming of Morne Morkel?

New Delhi: Former South African bowler, Morne Morkel has been appointed as the bowling coach of the Indian men’s team. The news was a mere formality after the news was confirmed long back. Morkel and the current head coach Gautam Gambhir have a long partnership going back to the days of Kolkata Knight Riders. Naturally, it is anticipated that the current appointment will reap huge benefits for the Indian cricket team.

Morkel was made the bowling coach after the departure of Paras Mhambrey. Moreover, this appointment also completes the long overhaul of the backdoor staff which was expected under the new head coach Gautam Gambhir. Under Gambhir’s supervision, Abhishek Nayar and Ryan ten Doeschate have been appointed as assistant coaches while T Dilip has been appointed as the fielding coach.

According to a report by ESPNcricinfo, it is believed that Morne Morkel was the favourite to succeed for the job from the start. The other candidate who was considered for the same post was R Vinay Kumar. But with more experience under his belt, Morkel’s candidature outweighed Vinay.

Morne Morkel’s career in brief

A tall and lanky pace bowler, Morne Morkel was a premium and ferocious pace bowler with a high arm action. In the 12-year career that Morkel had with the Proteas, the right-hand bowler was part of the national side for 86 Tests, 117 ODIs and 44 T20Is. In these matches, Morkel has scalped a total of 544 wickets.

This talented pace bowler, however, was not able to win the prized World Cup. The only occasion when he came at touching distance of the trophy was during the 2015 World Cup where the Proteas had to face a heartbreaking defeat against New Zealand in the semifinals.

Since retiring from cricket, Morkel has been at the helm of various support staff and backroom staff. Morkel had earlier supported the New Zealand Women’s team for the Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 and most recently, the Namibia team at the Men’s T20 World Cup 2024.