Morne Morkel, newly appointed bowling coach of Team India and a former South African fast bowler, is just waiting for his maiden assignment as a coaching staff member-the upcoming two-Test series against Bangladesh at home. The 38-year-old Morkel has expressed his plans and aspirations for his new role as a coach in an interview published on the official Instagram account of the BCCI.
Morne Morkel: India’s Bowling Coach
He said he will look forward to starting his tenure by drawing experiences from his playing career, in which he has faced and played with a number of senior Indian players. Morkel added he would look to all those past experiences to make good relations with them and contribute positively towards the overall development of the squad.
Understanding The Strengths And Weaknesses Of Players
Morkel said, “I’m here now on the setup 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,”
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“And, for today that was sort of the goal, to get an understanding about the guys, their strengths, their weaknesses and help a little bit by sitting and planting little seeds for the goals for the upcoming series. And yeah, that’s the sort of conversation we had today,” he added.
IND Vs BAN: A New Challenge
The Indian team reached Chennai on Friday as a build-up towards the first Test in Bangladesh scheduled to take place on the 19th of September at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium. After the first training session of the team, Morne Morkel spoke about the professionalism displayed by the squad and said that he hopes they could continue this trend for a great start.
“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,” the former South African pacer shared.
Creating A Positive Environment
39-year-old Morkel also wants to utilize this team’s full potential by creating an environment which will make all the players comfortable and important. He believes that if the players get a sense of belonging, automatically they will be able to perform exceptionally well at the international level.
“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 mentioned.
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“From there, up-skill and get them up to the standard and feel ready to take up this challenge. I understand and I know there’s always going to be expectations of winning and stuff like that. And luckily I’ve experienced it in my playing days so that I can share that knowledge. When I was sitting on the plane, I’d reflect,” he shared.
Backing Senior Players
The onus of an exceptional caliber of senior players in the current Indian team also impresses the former South African fast bowler. According to him, his role is to support these experienced players while retaining all those successful systems and standards that Indian cricket has maintained in the last few 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 setup 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,” Morkel concluded.
