Gautam Gambhir's influence exposed in Morne Morkel's appointment as India's new bowling coach

Ever since Morne Morkel has been appointed India's new bowling coach, there has been a sense of excitement around Indian cricket. Morkel, who was a legendary fast bowler during his time, also has vast coaching experience in different countries.

But his appointment for the current role wasn't straightforward. R Vinay Kumar and Laxmipathy Balaji were also in the race. But Gambhir and Morkel have worked together in IPL before and Gambhir was confident of Morkel's capabilities.

Morne Morkel's appointment was confirmed by BCCI secretary Jay Shah, who announced that Morkel will be India's bowling coach till 2027. The former South Africa fast bowler will report to the National Cricket Academy (NCA), Bengaluru next month where he will meet VVS Laxman, the head of NCA, and Troy Cooley, the head of bowling at NCA.

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Gautam Gambhir's role in Morne Morkel's appointment as India's new bowling coach

According to the reports, Morkel was directly recommended by Gautam Gambhir ahead of the other options like R Vinay Kumar and Lakshmipathy Balaji. A BCCI source confirmed that the head coach has the authority to choose his coaching staff and Gambhir didn't hesitate in choosing Morne Morkel for the role.

"The Cricket Advisory Committee's (CAC) mandate was to interview the candidates for the head coach. When it came to the choice of support staff, it was imperative that (Gautam) Gambhir's choice prevailed. He has worked with Morne (Morkel) and thinks of him highly as a bowling coach," a BCCI source was quoted as saying to PTI.

The source further confirmed that Morkel can be extremely useful Down Under given his records and experience in Australia. Morkel's expertise in overseas conditions is something that India would like to use to its potential.

"Also with the big series against Australia coming up Down Under from last week of November, there isn't a better choice than the South African, who has himself enjoyed fair bit of success over there. Also there will be the five-Test tour of England next year with a potential sixth match if India reach WTC final," the source added.

Morne Morkel's international record and coaching experience

Morne Morkel has loads of experience in international cricket having played 86 Tests, 117 ODIs, and 44 T20Is for South Africa. He has picked up 309 wickets in Tests, 188 wickets in ODIs, and 47 wickets in T20I cricket.

As a tall and fast bowler, he knows the lengths to bowl in Australian conditions which could be beneficial for the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy. After his retirement, Morkel took Australian citizenship and even played BBL as a local player.

He previously worked as the bowling coach with Pakistan's national team but resigned after the ODI World Cup 2023, when Pakistan could not qualify for the semi-finals. Morkel has also worked with the IPL team Lucknow Super Giants when Gautam Gambhir was the team's mentor.

Morne Morkel's biggest challenge

Morne Morkel's biggest challenge will be to prepare India's next crop of fast bowlers. Among the current crop of bowlers, Mohammed Shami is nearing the business of his career and India needs a bowler who can complement Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, especially in Test cricket.

India also needs to find a suitable replacement for Ravichandran Ashwin who is also nearing the end of his career. India's upcoming batch of fast bowlers is an exciting one with the likes of Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan, Akash Deep, and Mayank Yadav looking to make a mark in international cricket.