Morkel wants to build bridges with his bowling unit to get the job done

Never before did a bowling coach of the Indian team garner so much media attention which Morne Morkel did on his first day at office in Chennai on Friday, 13 September. The former South African pace warhead, looking as fit ever at 39, said he wanted to ‘connect and build friendships’ with the bowling unit along the way to achieve best results in the coming months.     

Morkel, whose last international assignment was as the bowling coach of Pakistan till the ICC World Cup in India last year, also served as the bowling mentor of Lucknow Super Giants with Gautam Gambhir. As the Gambhir era began in Indian cricket, the new chief coach’s insistence to have the South African on board eventually paid off and his first assignment will now be the two-Test series against Bangladesh beginning on 19 September.    

A regular in India, the erstwhile new ball partner of Dale Steyn seemed to stress on the virtues of bowling on the channel to the likes of Akashdeep and newcomer Yash Dayal in a video on BCCI social media handles. “I’m here now on the set-up and I’m looking forward to a great journey and time with India. For me, it is important to connect well with the guys. I’ve played a lot against some of the players I’ve seen and connected a little bit too with some of the guys doing IPL and to now be in the camp and form friendships and relationships for me is very important,” said Morkel, who was a member of Kolkata Knight Riders’ 2014 IPL-winning team.

The introduction of Morkel and Ryan ten Doeschate as support staff marked a major departure in BCCI’s policy of adhering to Indian personnel in charge of national teams for the past decade. However, both the last two incumbents: Bharath Arun and Paras Mhambrey had done their bit in getting the best out of Bumrah  & Co and the onus will be on Morkel to keep their workload management in check.  

 A self-confessed lover of dosas, Morkel was impressed by the first impression of the bowling pack at work. “I was blown away about, you know, how they went about things, how professional they were. So that’s that’s a good sign. And, you know, hopefully, we can build on that,” said the owner of 309 Test wickets from only 86 Tests at an economy rate of 3.10.

“It’s one thing, having the talent and the skill, how can you make those guys feel welcome in an intimidating sort of environment? India playing for and wearing the blue shirt, there are a lot of expectations. So for me, having that experience and going through that, thus passing on that sort of knowledge and helping them to settle and also feel at home because I think as soon as a player has that comfortability that they belong and feel comfortable in this space, the performances will come,” Morkel said.

 The coming months will see India playing as many as 10 Test matches, with five scheduled Down Under in December-January – and Morkel will be at hand to provide his inputs on hitting the right areas on Australian wickets. Mohammed Shami, the seniormost paceman, is still on the mend after a serious ankle injury during the 50-overs World Cup last year and could well be joining the Indian attack in time for the home series against the Kiwis.   

 The wealth of experience in Indian attack, according to Morkel, can be an object of envy and Morkel made it clear that he wanted to maintain the system within Indian cricket which had been operating at its best in recent years.

 “We’re so lucky in this team to have quality senior players and you know, the players they’ll lead the charge and it’s our responsibility to support them and just give them the best sort of advice that we can give. But coming out here, this is a set-up where, you know, it sort of operates by itself, so to protect that and make it better in small ways is going to be the goal,” he added.