Morne Morkel has been appointed as India’s bowling coach

As reported by ESPNcricinfo, Morkel was the frontrunner for the job after being part of the shortlist with R Vinay Kumar, the former Indian pacer.

Morkel was Pakistan’s bowling coach until last December. His name was recommended by Gambhir, with whom he worked for two seasons (2022-23) for Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL and also for Durban Super Giants in SA20.

Among the challenges facing Morkel will be ensuring that India’s fast-bowling bench remains strong as they play five Tests at home between September and November, followed by a tour of Australia, where they will play a five-Test series for the first time since 1992.

It is not yet clear whether Sairaj Bahutule, the former India legspinner who also doubled up as the bowling coach on the Sri Lanka tour, will continue to be part of the support team. It is understood that the team management wants to build a number of spinners apart from R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav, and it is possible that Bahutule could be part of the spin consultant, even if not on a full-time basis.

Morkel played 86 Tests, 117 ODIs and 44 T20Is during a 12-year international career where he took 544 wickets. Since his retirement, he has been a bowling consultant to various teams around the world. Apart from Pakistan and LSG, Morkel has also worked with New Zealand in the 2023 Women’s T20 World Cup and more recently with Namibia in the 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup.