(Reuters) – India have appointed Morne Morkel as their new bowling coach with the former South Africa international paceman officially joining head coach Gautam Gambhir’s staff next month, local media reported.
Morkel resigned from his role as Pakistan’s bowling coach in November last year, a few days after they finished fifth in the 50-overs World Cup in India.
The 39-year-old has previously played alongside Gambhir at Indian Premier League side Kolkata Knight Riders and was part of the former India opener’s coaching team at Lucknow Super Giants.
Reports in the Indian media on Wednesday said that Morkel’s appointment was confirmed by Indian cricket board secretary Jay Shah.
Reuters has contacted the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for comment.
Morkel’s first assignment will be the test series against Bangladesh starting on Sept. 19 in Chennai, media said.
He will join Abhishek Nayar, Ryan ten Doeschate and fielding coach T Dilip as Gambhir’s assistants.
Gambhir took over from Rahul Dravid last month and guided India to a 3-0 win over Sri Lanka in their Twenty20 series in Pallekele. The tourists were then beaten 2-0 in the one-day international series that followed in Colombo.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonali Paul)
