Morne Morkel to be India Bowling Coach? BCCI Mulling Over Gautam Gambhir’s Recommendation

Former South Africa cricketer Morne Morkel is said to be in contention to replace Paras Mhambrey as the bowling coach of the Indian men’s cricket team. Morkel is a former teammate of Gautam Gambhir at Kolkata Knight Riders and has worked with him as part of support staff with Lucknow Super Giants in the past.

According to a report in Cricbuzz, Gambhir, who earlier this week was appointed as the head coach of the Indian team, has asked BCCI to consider Morkel for the role and the former fast bowler has held talks with the board.

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Gambhir and Morkel worked together at LSG for two seasons with the franchise making it to the playoffs both the time.

The 39-year-old retired from international cricket in 2018 after representing South Africa in 86 Tests, 117 ODIs and 44 T20Is taking a combined 544 wickets in them.

Gambhir left LSG to join KKR as mentor for IPL 2024 but Morkel remained in his role with the Super Giants under new head coach Justin Langer.

After playing a role in KKR winning the title earlier this year, Gambhir interviewed for the role of India head coach to replace Rahul Dravid whose tenure ended with the team winning 2024 T20 World Cup.

Morkel isn’t the lone candidate for the role with the likes of Zaheer Khan, R Vinay Kumar, Lakshmipathy Balaji also reportedly in the running.

Gambhir has also suggested the names of Abhishek Nayar and Ryan ten Doeschate –  both part of KKR coaching staff – to join him at Team India.

An Indian T20I team is currently on the tour of Zimbabwe for a five-match series. VVS Laxman, the current head of the National Cricket Academy, has travelled with the young squad, led by Shubman Gill, in the capacity of an interim coach.

The upcoming white-ball series in Sri Lanka will be Gambhir’s first assignment as the India coach. India are slated to play three ODIs and as many T20Is during the tour that starts later this month.