‘Lucky to have quality senior players, the set-up operates by itself’ - Morne Morkel after first day as India bowling coach

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) appointed Morne Morkel as the new bowling coach and the former pacer joined the India camp in Chennai ahead of the two-match Test series. He was seen spending time with Akash Deep and other young pacers in the camp as the Rohit Sharma-led side gears up for a 10-Test marathon: two against Bangladesh, followed by three versus New Zealand and then a five-match away tour against Australia.

Meanwhile, after the first practice session, Morkel stated that the Indian team is lucky to have multiple quality senior players in the ranks and mentioned that the set-up sort of operates by itself. He understands that the expectations are quite high in the Indian team but the former South Africa international is willing to share the knowledge and protect the set-up that’s already been built.

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“I know there will be expectations of winning and luckily I have experienced that in my playing days. I can share that knowledge. When I was setting the plan, I reflected upon that we are so lucky to have quality senior players. The senior players lead the charge. It’s our responsibility to support them. Just give them the right sort of advice we can give. It’s a set-up that sort of operates by itself. So to protect that and better that is the goal,” said Morkel in a video released by BCCI.

Morkel opens up on being appointed as India coach

The 39-year-old stated that he sat in his room for five minutes after BCCI reached out to him for the head coach role and later, he went on to speak to his dad, who was delighted. He called it to be special and is looking forward to the role.

“I sat for five minutes in the room reflecting on it. I first spoke to my dad, didn’t go to my wife. Normally they say go to your wife, but I went to speak to dad. Been a cricket fan for years and knowing what’s going to come is quite a special moment. I enjoyed it for about five to seven minutes by myself and then shared with my family about the opportunity,” Morkel said.