How Morne Morkel became India's bowling coach after BCCI's rejection of Balaji and Vinay Kumar

BCCI secretary Jay Shah has officially announced Morne Morkel as India's new bowling coach for the next six years, until 2027. Morkel, a highly respected figure in South African cricket, has already made a name for himself as a successful coach with his successful tenures with the Pakistan cricket team and the Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL. His appointment came at the recommendation of head coach Gautam Gambhir, who had previously worked with Morkel at Lucknow Super Giants where he served as Gambhir's mentor during his two IPL seasons with the franchise.

Morkel has played 86 Tests, 117 ODIs, and 44 T20Is for South Africa, netting 544 international wickets.

He will report to Bengaluru's National Cricket Academy at the start of next month and is expected to watch the Duleep Trophy games. Once there, he will also touch base with VVS Laxman and the head of bowling at NCA, Troy Cooley.

According to sources, Morkel was directly appointed on Gambhir's recommendation ahead of other options like Lakshmipathy Balaji and R Vinay Kumar.

"The Cricket Advisory Committee's (CAC) mandate was to interview the candidates for the head coach. When it came to the choice of support staff, it was imperative that Gambhir's choice prevailed. He has worked with Morne and thinks of him highly as a bowling coach," a BCCI source told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

Morkel will start his journey with the two-match home Test series against Bangladesh but his real test will be when the team tours Down Under, aiming a hat-trick of Test series victories in Australia.

"Also with the big series against Australia coming up Down Under from last week of November, there isn't a better choice than the South African, who has himself enjoyed fair bit of success over there. Also there will be the five-Test tour of England next year with a potential sixth match if India reach WTC final."

It is understood that Balaji and Vinay's names weren't considered once it was clear that Morkel would carry forward the good work done by Mhambrey.

One half of the famous fast bowling duo that featured Dale Steyn, Morkel is a cricketing heavyweight and has also played quite a lot in India to have a fair idea about the conditions.

Also, his stint in the IPL has allowed him to have a ringside view of India's next crop of fast bowlers including the most exciting of them all -- Mayank Yadav, Avesh Khan and Yash Thakur to name a few.

A lot of observers believe that Morkel worked quite a lot with Mayank during the past two seasons of IPL even though he remained injured for the better part.

Morkel's major challenge

Morkel's biggest challenge will be to handle the transition phase as Mohammed Shami enters the business end of his illustrious career and Jasprit Bumrah needs more potent support apart from Mohammed Siraj, especially in red-ball cricket.

Morkel had last year worked with the Pakistan team till the end of the ODI World Cup and quit before his contract expired.

India have never had any spin bowling coach as such although former director Ravi Shastri was a distinguished left-arm spinner in his playing days. Sairaj Bahutule, who is a part of Laxman's team at the NCA, has travelled on and off with the senior team.

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