Morne Morkel appointed Indian cricket team’s bowling coach: BCCI secretary Jay Shah confirms to news agency PTI. Former South Africa pacer Morne Morkel was earlier the bowling coach of the Pakistan cricket team during 2023 ODI World Cup in India. He has been associated with IPL teams – Kolkata Knight Riders, Lucknow Super Giants and Delhi Daredevils. “Yes, Morne Morkel has been appointed bowling coach of the senior India men’s team,” Shah told PTI.

India’s first Test match against Bangladesh on September 19 is going to be Morkel’s first assignment with the Indian team.  

The 39-year-old Morkel was new chief coach Gautam Gambhir’s primary choice, having worked with him at Lucknow Super Giants. The 39 year-old has played 86 Tests, 117 ODIs and 44 T20Is for South Africa with a total of 544 international wickets. 

Gambhir and Morkel shared a good working relationship during their time at the LSG as coaches. After Gambhir left KKR, Morkel stayed on with LSG as bowling coach. Gambhir  Earlier in 2014 mega-auction, Gambhir, then KKR captain, had insisted on getting the services of Morkel as a player. Gambhir had also said before that Morkel was the bowler he feared the most.

Meanwhile, former India pacer Joginder Sharma feels Gautam Gambhir’s tenure as head coach of the team might not be a long one, mainly because of his outspoken nature. Gambhir took over as head coach of the Indian team after Rahul Dravid tenure came to an end after the T20 World Cup in June. Under the leadership of Suryakumar Yadav, India defeated Sri Lanka 3-0 in Gambhir’s debut T20I series as head coach.

While Gambhir has been all smiles in the early days of tenure, Joginder, a T20 World Cup-winner with him in 2007, feels that the former India opener won’t be able stay as head coach for a long time.

“Gautam Gambhir team ko sambhalne waala hai lekin par mera ye manna hai ki Gautam Gambhir jyada lambe samay tak tik nahi payega (Gautam Gambhir is the one to manage the team, but I believe that Gautam Gambhir will not be able to stay for a long time),” Joginder said on Shubhankar Mishra’s podcast.

India’s newly-appointed head coach Gautam Gambhir had recently expressed his regret for not using Suryakumar Yadav‘s potential while they were together in the Kolkata Knight Riders team. Surya has now cheekily responded to the regret that Gambhir has. It is worth noting that the Sri Lanka tour of India is Gambhir’s first assignment in the new role. On the other hand, Suryakumar has been named the captain for Sri Lanka T20Is after being preferred over Hardik Pandya. The BCCI cited Hardik’s injury issues and workload management as the reasons for the player being overlooked for captaincy in the format.

“A leader’s role is to identify the best potential and show it to the world. If there is one regret that I have in my seven years of captaincy, is that me and we as a team never managed to use Suryakumar Yadav to the best of potential. The reason was down to combinations,” Gambhir had told Sportskeeda.

“To abhi karlenge poora potential ko use (We will fulfil that potential now),” Suryakumar said with a smile during the press conference on the eve of first T20I vs Sri Lanka.

“Our bond has always been special. We have talked a lot. We both understand what we want to say just by our body language.

“Sometimes, even without expressing anything, we understand what each of us want to say. I am very excited for this journey. Let’s see what happens,” he added. 

Meanwhile, Suryakumar asserted that India will continue to play the aggressive brand of cricket which hallmarked the regime of his predecessor Rohit Sharma.

Under Rohit, who retired from T20Is after the World Cup triumph in the Americas, India played a template-changing attacking game from last year’s ODI showpiece at home.

“The same train will go ahead; only the engine has changed and the bogies remain unchanged,” Suryakumar said.

“Nothing changes; the brand of cricket remains the same. It (the captaincy role) doesn’t change anything. It has given me an added responsibility. It is good that now I can do a ‘walk the talk’,” he added.

It came as a surprise for everybody when the Board of Control for Cricket in India named Suryakumar Yadav as the captain for Sri Lanka T20Is, preferring the top-order batter over Hardik Pandya. Star all-rounder Hardik was the vice-captain of the T20 World Cup-winning Indian cricket team. He looked all set to take over the captaincy role in the format after Rohit Sharma callled time on his T20I career, but the management went ahead with Surya instead. BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar explained that Hardik’s consistent injuries, his workload management were the reasons that pushed the board to look beyond him for the captaincy role.

Agarkar added that Suryakumar’s captaincy abilities and the feedback from players also played a big role in him being appointed the skipper in T20Is.

Amidst a lot of other rumours surrounding the new T20I captain’s appointment, former India cricketer Pragyan Ojha has pointed out an old Kolkata Knight Riders connection between Suryakumar and newly-appointed head coach Gautam Gambhir.

“I am quite sure that the selectors would have thought about it, but if you see, the T20 World Cup is in 2026. So with that they wanted someone maturity and experience. So who better than Suryakumar Yadav? Had it been Hardik – because that is what we were expecting since he was the vice-captain in the World Cup – there were few challenges that he too had to face as far as the fitness is concerned. So looking at all the dynamics, I feel Surya is a great choice,” Ojha told OneIndia.

“He is a street-smart guy. He has a great camaraderie with Gautam Gambhir. They have played together, and if you remember, when Gauti bhai was leading KKR, Surya was the vice-captain. So that understanding and that trust level is always there. Hardik, they thought that maybe fitness can trouble him. So, the next best person was Suryakumar Yadav,” he added.

The India cricket squad for the Sri Lanka tour, that starts on July 27 with a T20I in Pallekele, is out. This is Gautam Gambhir‘s first series as Indian cricket team head coach and the squads selected for the three T20Is and three ODIs are very interesting. The biggest development is that Suryakumar Yadav, and not Hardik Pandya, will lead the side in the three T20Is against Sri Lanka. 

Before this, Yadav has led the Indian T20I side against South Africa and Australia. Pandya was the designated vice-captain of India at the T20 World Cup and it was expected that the next logical step would have been to make him captain. However, with Suryakumar Yadav’s appointment as Indian T20I captain, it can be assumed that Gautam Gambhir and Co. are looking at the Mumbai Indians batter as a long-term prospect for captaincy. Interestingly, Hardik Pandya has not been  named as the vice-captain also. Shubman Gill has been named the new vice-captain.

In fact, a report by news agency PTI, earlier claimed that SKY may be made the captain till the 2026 T20 World Cup. 

So, why Hardik Pandya – a player who had a major impact in India winning the T20 World Cup – was snubbed from captaincy?

According to ESPNCricinfo, “fitness concerns and workload management tipped the scales” against Pandya. The star all-rounder went on a lengthy break after a freak ankle injury at the ODI World Cup 2023. He made a comeback with the IPL. That was not all, as before that Pandya has often missed tournaments due to injuries. 

Pandya, currently, is the best fast bowling all-rounder that India has. He is a rare commodity in Indian cricket. And if the management, wants to monitor his workload, they can’t be faulted. 

Former Zimbabwe player and current Royal Challengers Bengaluru head coach Andy Flower has backed the BCCI’s decision to appoint Gautam Gambhir as the head coach of the Indian cricket team. The board on Tuesday announced the news of selecting Gambhir, a former India opener, to replace Rahul Dravid, whose tenure ended with T20 World Cup 2024. While praising the move, Flower stated that Gambhir is a man of “strong opinions” and “clear views”. It is worth noting that both Gambhir and Flower worked together during IPl 2022 and 2023.

For the two years, Flower was the head coach of Lucknow Super Giants, while Gambhir was the mentor of the side. Ahead of IPL 2024, Gambhir became the mentor of Kolkata Knight Riders while Flower switched to Royal Challengers Bengaluru as the side’s head coach.

“Well, the first thing he’s got to do is just give up his legends cricket at the moment. He’s quite a man Gautam Gambhir, I really enjoyed working with him. He’s got strong opinions, he’s got strong clear views on the game. He’s very decisive, he’s a very proud Indian, he loves Indian cricket and his position, representing Indian cricket. I think it’s a good appointment and I think he’s going to be successful,” said Flower on Sony Sports ahead of India vs Zimbabwe third T20I match.

Under Gambhir’s mentorship, KKR won their third IPL title in 2024. KKR’s first two titles that came in 2012 and 2014 had come under Gambhir’s captaincy.

BCCI president Roger Binny said that Gautam Gambhir’s appointment as Team India’s new head coach marks a new chapter.

WV Raman was the other candidate alongside Gambhir, who was interviewed for the job of India head coach but the latter is the one who eventually got the role.

Roger Binny said that Gambhir’s experience made him the ideal candidate to guide the team forward.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) appointed Gautam Gambhir as the head coach of the senior men’s cricket team on Tuesday. Ever since Gambhir took the post left vacant by Rahul Dravid, whose tenure ended with the conclusion of T20 World Cup 2024, there have been a lot of reports regarding the coaching support staff that are yet to be named. In a latest development, it is being reported that Gambhir asked for Jonty Rhodes to be included as fielding coach for Team India, but the board turned down the request.

The report was published by Hindustan Times, which also stated that the BCCI wants to keep an all-Indian support staff.

It is worth noting that all the tenure of all the support staff — batting coach Vikram Rathour, bowling coach Paras Mhambrey, and fielding coach T Dilip — ended with that of Rahul Dravid’s reign as India head coach. However, the board’s reported plan to keep an all-Indian support staff means that Dilip might continue as India fielding coach.

With Gambhir assuming the role of head coach, he inherits a formidable India men’s team that recently secured victory in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 and made notable runners-up appearances in the 2023 ODI World Cup and World Test Championship. As he embarks on his stint until 2027, Gambhir faces a multitude of challenges.

The first challenge Gambhir faces is to find his footing and build camaraderie in a dressing room with players he was previously teammates with — like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli among others.

Gambhir’s route to becoming the head coach of the Indian team has involved taking on mentorship roles in the IPL, despite lacking substantial coaching experience beforehand. This was also the case for Ravi Shastri and Anil Kumble when they were appointed to the top job in the Indian team.

Under Gambhir’s mentorship, Lucknow Super Giants entered playoffs in consecutive seasons. He then switched to mentoring Kolkata Knight Riders – the team he led to two IPL titles – and got them the trophy in May.

(With IANS Inputs)