Morne Morkel named as India's new bowling coach

After much anticipation, Morne Morkel, the former South Africa fast bowler, has officially been named as the new bowling coach for the Indian men's team. The announcement was made by BCCI secretary Jay Shah on Wednesday, putting an end to weeks of speculation surrounding the appointment.

Morkel replaces former India fast bowler Paras Mhambrey in the role. His appointment completes India's backroom staff, led by Gautam Gambhir, along with assistant coaches Abhishek Nayar and Ryan ten Doeschate and fielding coach T Dilip.

As reported by ESPNcricinfo, Morkel had been the frontrunner for the job after being part of the shortlists alongside R Vinay Kumar, the former India seamer.

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Morkel was until last December Pakistan's bowling coach. His name was recommended by Gambhir, who he worked alongside for two seasons (2022-23) at Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL as well as at Durban Super Giants in the SA20.

Among Morkel's immediate challenges will be to ensure India's fast bowling bench strength remains strong as they build towards a hectic home season of Tests, followed by a tough away tour of Australia towards the end of the year, where they will play a five-Test series for the first time since 1992.

It isn't clear yet if Sairaj Bahutule, the former India legspinner, who doubled up as bowling coach on the tour of Sri Lanka, will continue to be part of the wider support staff group.

The team management is understood to be keen on building a pool of spinners outside of R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav. It's therefore likely Bahutule could be involved as a spin consultant, even if not on a permanent basis.

Morkel played 86 Tests, 117 ODIs and 44 T20Is during a 12-year international career in which he picked up 544 wickets. Since retirement, Morkel has been a bowling consultant with different teams. Apart from Pakistan and LSG, Morkel also worked with New Zealand at the Women's T20 World Cup in 2023 and most recently with Namibia at the men's T20 World Cup.