Gautam Gambhir has become the new head coach of the Indian cricket team. Last Tuesday, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced that Gambhir will become the head coach. However, the supporting staff is yet to be announced.
After the end of Rahul Dravid’s tenure, Gambhir was given the responsibility of head coach. Along with Dravid, his support staff viz batting coach Vikram Rathore, fielding coach T Dilip and bowling coach Paras Mhambre were also out of office.
Meanwhile, a new name is emerging as the new bowling coach of the Indian team, who has links with the Pakistan cricket team. In the race to become India’s bowling coach, the name of former South African fast bowler Morne Morkel, who has good coaching experience, is coming forward. He is in the eyes of Gautam Gambhir, the new head coach of the Indian team.
Morne Morkel was the coach of the Pakistan team during the ODI World Cup held in India last year. He resigned from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) a few months before his contract expired. It is being told that Gautam Gambhir has requested the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to consider Morne Morkel for the post of bowling coach. The East African fast bowler has played 117 ODIs, 86 Tests and 44 T20Is between 2006 and 2018.
Gambhir and Morne Morkel have worked together in the IPL. The two had a good relationship at the Lucknow Super Giants IPL team, where Gambhir worked as a mentor for two years. Even after Gautam Gambhir joined IPL team Kolkata Knight Riders and head coach Andy Flower joined Royal Challengers Bangalore, Morne Morkel remained with Lucknow Super Giants.
Morne Morkel has been a brilliant coach in both international and IPL arenas. Morne Morkel retired in 2018 at the age of 39.
Several names have been floated for the post of bowling coach, including those of Vinay Kumar and Lakshmipati Balaji. According to reports, BCCI is considering Zaheer Khan for this post. However, the final decision has not been taken yet.
Earlier, Gautam Gambhir had recommended the name of former South African legend Jonty Rhodes as the fielding coach to the BCCI, which the BCCI has rejected. BCCI does not want to include any kind of foreign coach for support staff in Indian cricket team. BCCI has been working with indigenous coaches for the past several years.
