"I didn't even go to my wife" - Morne Morkel on his reaction after bagging coaching role with Team India
Former South African speedster Morne Morkel was recently appointed Team India's bowling coach. Soon after Gautam Gambhir was appointed India's head coach, he requested the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to have Morkel on board as the bowling coach. The BCCI reportedly agreed to Gambhir's demand after several considerations.
Morkel, who has worked with Gambhir previously for the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the Indian Premier League (IPL), brings a wealth of experience. He represented the Proteas in 86 Tests, 117 ODIs, and 44 T20Is in a career spanning over a decade.
Throwing light on his first reaction after receiving the offer, Morkel claimed he sat all by himself for five to six minutes before calling his father to divulge the news.
"So when I ended the call, I sat for about five minutes in the room reflecting and I first thing, you know, phoned my dad," Morkel said in an interview with the BCCI. "He spoke to me. I didn't even go to my wife. You know, normally they say go to your wife first, but I spoke to my dad and, I mean, being a cricket fan for years and knowing, you know, sort of, you know, what was going to come was quite a special moment for me."
"So, yeah, I enjoyed it for about five, seven minutes to myself and then obviously shared with the family that this is the opportunity and potentially that it might happen," he added. "And yeah, I'm just so delighted that we, you know, eventually finally got, you know, things over the line and I'm here now in the setup and, you know, I'm looking forward to a great journey and time with India."
Morkel's first assignment with Team India will be the two-match Test series against Bangladesh, starting on September 19 in Chennai.
"Planting little seeds for the goals for the upcoming series" - Morne Morkel on what he tried to achieve on his first day at nets
Having played in the IPL and against the Men in Blue, Morne Morkel has rubbed shoulders with several Indian cricketers during his playing days.
Explaining how his first day as India's bowling coach went, Morkel shared he tried to establish a connection with the players and set up plans for the upcoming Bangladesh series.
"For me, it was just important to connect well with the guys," the South African explained in the same video. "You know, I've played a lot against some of the players I've seen and connected a little bit to some of the guys doing IPL and to be now in the camp and to form, you know, friendship and form relationships."
"For me, this is very important and, you know, today was sort of the goal of that is just to get an understanding about the guys, their strengths, their weaknesses, you know, help a little bit with setting, setting or planting little seeds for the goals for the upcoming series. And, yeah, that's the sort of conversations we had today and the guys did really well," he added.
Morkel was taken aback by the Indian players' professionalism and is keen to build on it for the future.
"I was blown away by, 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," Morkel claimed.