Morne Morkel has joined the Indian cricket team for his first assignment which is the upcoming two-match test series against Bangladesh at Home.
The former South African pacer has highlighted his plans and expectations from himself in his new role as India’s bowling coach.
Speaking in an interview, he hopes to begin his stint by making a connection with the squad members. During his playing career, he has played with and against some of the setups and hopes to take advantage of that to help improve relationships with the team.
“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,” said Morne Morkel.
⏪ Feeling after being named Bowling Coach
🏏 Goals for an exciting home season
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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.
“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 Morne Morkel.
The 39-year-old aims to bring out the best in a bunch of players and he hopes to do that by ensuring the squad is comfortable and that they belong in the international circuit.
“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,” Morne Morkel commented.
The newly appointed Indian bowling coach will also help improve the side skill-wise and will work towards the expectations of playing for a winning side.
“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.
The former South Africa pacer is also pleased by the quality of senior players that the Indian team has at the moment and believes that their job is to support them and maintain the system within Indian cricket.
“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,” Morne Morkel concluded.
India stands top while Bangladesh stands in fourth position in the WTC points table. Coming to the tournament, India and Bangladesh announced their squads for the tests.
The first test of the Bangladesh series will be played on September 19 at M.A. Chidambaram Stadium.
