Team India’s new bowling coach Morne Morkel is all set to begin his tenure with the upcoming two-match Test series against Bangladesh, starting September 19 in Chennai.
After joining the Indian camp for the first time on Friday (September 13), Morkel opened up on his plans and expectations in his new role.
In an exclusive chat uploaded by the BCCI's official Instagram handle, Morkel hoped to begin his stint by connecting with the squad members.
“I’m here now on the setup and I’m looking forward to a great journey and time with India. For me, it is important to connect well with the guys. I’ve played a lot against some of the players I’ve seen and connected a little bit too with some of the guys doing IPL and to now be in the camp and form friendships and relationships for me is very important,” Morkel said.
“And, for today that was sort of the goal, to get an understanding about the guys, their strengths, their weaknesses and help a little bit by sitting and planting little seeds for the goals for the upcoming series. And yeah, that’s the sort of conversation we had today,” he added.
Morne Morkel has previously served Pakistan, Namibia and Lucknow Super Giants as bowling coach. He was also associated with the New Zealand women's team at the T20 World Cup last year.
The 39-year-old was impressed by the professionalism shown by the Indian players in their first training session before the Bangladesh Test series.
“I was blown away about, you know, how they went about things, how professional they were. So that’s a good sign. And, you know, hopefully, we can build on that,” he stated.
The former South African pacer aims to help bring the best out of a talented bunch of players and he hopes to do that by ensuring that every member of the squad is made to feel comfortable.
“It’s one thing, having the talent and the skill, how can you make those guys feel welcome in an intimidating sort of environment? India playing for and wearing the blue shirt, there are a lot of expectations. So for me, having that experience and going through that, thus passing on that sort of knowledge and helping them to settle and also feel at home because I think as soon as a player has that comfortability that they belong and feel comfortable in this space, the performances will come,” he remarked.
Morkel is also keen to help the players fine-tuning their skills and cope with the expectations of playing for a champion side.
“From there, up-skill and get them up to the standard and feel ready to take up this challenge. I understand and I know there’s always going to be expectations of winning and stuff like that. And luckily I’ve experienced it in my playing days so that I can share that knowledge. When I was sitting on the plane, I’d reflect,” he said.
Morne Morkel is pleased by the quality of senior players the Indian team has in its ranks, and believes that their job is to support them as best as possible.
“We’re so lucky in this team to have quality senior players and you know, the players they’ll lead the charge and it’s our responsibility to support them and just give them the best sort of advice that we can give. But coming out here, this is a setup where, you know, it sort of operates by itself, so to protect that and make it better in small ways is going to be the goal,” he concluded.
