Team India bowling coach Morne Morkel hit the ground running in the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) in Pune ahead of the second Test against New Zealand, beginning on October 24 (Thursday). The retired South African pacer was seen bowling to KL Rahul, who struggled in the opening Test as the BCCI shared a video of the same.
Morkel, who took charge of Indian team as the bowling coach ahead of the series against Bangladesh, has accumulated 544 international wickets. The 40-year-old had previously served as the bowling coach of Pakistan too and featured in the same role for the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Lucknow Super Giants (LSG).
Speaking in the video uploaded by the BCCI, Morkel recalled how he told the Indian players he was still fit enough to bowl and that the day shall come soon.
"I need to remind myself that I am 40 and not 20 or 23 anymore. I havenβt bowled, the last time I bowled was a year ago. The boys sort of asked when I joined [team] if I am still fit enough to bowl, I said, βdonβt worry, the day will come."
"A lot of conversations and self-talk to calm down" - Morne Morkel
Morkel also underlined the need to calm himself down and was keen not to get injured, given he hadn't bowled for a long time, especially on the low and slow surfaces of India. He added:
"I had to really walk back to my mark. A lot of conversations and self-talk to calm down. The last thing that you want is to get injured, pull hamstring. So, I allowed myself to bowl big no balls. Obviously, injury prevention was the main key for me. I have bowled too many overs in India that reminded me that the surface is hard and slow and low. Donβt be silly."
Rohit Sharma and co. trail the three-Test series by 0-1.
