India’s bowling coach Morne Morkel wants the team management to give second-line bowlers such as Prasidh Krishna and Gurnoor Brar sufficient opportunities in the upcoming ODI series against the West Indies, saying match time in different roles will be crucial in building a group for next year’s World Cup. The three-match series, beginning on Sunday, will provide the bowling unit an opportunity to test its resources and allow players in the second line to understand the standards expected of them, Morkel said.
“I think if you look at the last year, we’ve been trying to give guys some game time and see in different roles how they react. It will be the same now leading into the series and looking at New Zealand (series),” Morkel said ahead of India’s training session.
“To give guys opportunity with ball in hand…I think it’s very important for these guys (Prasidh, Brar) to get the game time, to get a feel of the standard that we’re looking to play. So yeah, I think in this series there will definitely be opportunities given to guys to see what they can do in their different roles,” he added.
Morkel said exposing bowlers to difficult match situations would help them develop the temperament required to handle pressure rather than merely trying to secure their places in the playing eleven.
“We’ve challenged the bowlers when conditions are tough or there’s certain partnerships that are developing. I want to see guys asking for the ball and wanting to create those opportunities and not be sort of protecting their own space,” the former Proteas pacer added.
He wants to see how players react to tough situations going into the World Cup.
“I think that will be a great goal for us if we can develop that attitude where guys want tough situations. You know, if we are maybe 30 for 4, who’s going to get that partnership and get us a hundred?
“So if we can throw ourselves into certain situations and guys can figure out ways to play that situation there will be growth and that will help us down the line,” he elaborated.
The former South African pacer also said the team management was working closely with the medical staff at the BCCI Centre of Excellence to chart individual return-to-play plans for injured players, including Harshit Rana.
“We have got Harshit and all those guys who are still on the sidelines. We’re excited to get them back and get them playing and get them fit again. So, that’s part of our jobs to sit with the medical staff and map that out.”
“But there’s definitely a plan for every individual. We’ll keep on monitoring that and coming up with the best way forward to give the selectors a group to pick from,” he said.
Morkel admitted it was frustrating to see frontline bowlers such as Rana and Varun Chakravarthy repeatedly miss matches due to injuries, but said India had enough depth to provide opportunities to others.
“Yeah, I mean, it is (frustrating). Obviously, you want to have your strongest and condition-wise the best 11 on the field. But certainly it’s part of the game that, you know, the guys getting injured at times where we didn’t ideally want them to fall injured.”
“But, yeah, luckily, we’ve got a fantastic back-up in the wings. It’s a great opportunity, again, for guys to, you know, to go and play a game for India, to make a name for themselves and to compete.
“But, you know, really, hopefully, we can get all the injuries now out of the way. And later down the year, we’ll be fine and we can take it on from there,” he noted.
Morkel said the West Indies series would also mark the beginning of India’s preparations for next year’s ODI World Cup, with the team unwilling to leave the process of building its bowling group until the last minute.
“For me, at the end of the day whoever walks onto the field now, up to the World Cup, starting on Sunday, needs to know that there is a certain standard we need to achieve. I want these players to put themselves under as much pressure,” Morkel said.
“I think the World Cup is the biggest stage. You can’t decide a month or a week before the tournament now that we’re going to step things up. I think it starts now with this series against the West Indies,” he added.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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