India bowling coach Morne Morkel has spoken about his strategy on utilizing his teams fast bowling resources as he feels it is key to have one-on-one chats with the players. The former South African speedster feels it is important to understand the strengths of each player in order to get the most out of them.
While the team as a whole will talk about their strategies, Morkel who was added to the Indian coaching set-up in 2024 under head coach Gautam Gambhir, feels it's best to have individual chats with players to address specific needs. He told the host broadcaster ahead of the second ODI against New Zealand that knowing how each bowler plays the game is key.
“I try to make it more personal. We do have a group chat, but all our guys have different skill sets so I like to get into those individual chats during training and warm-ups.
“They are all skilful. They know their game; they know how to go about their business. It's just about aligning all those small little things,” Morkel said.
Morne Morkel highlights importance of planning for India's New Zealand tour
Morne Morkel also highlighted the importance of careful planning when looking at the busy international schedule. They have 12 international games coming up, including 10 white-ball games and two Tests.
“Our communication to this group has been clear for a long time. We obviously identified this as a big tour. We haven't played our best white-ball cricket outside India, so we placed a big emphasis on coming on this tour and playing a good brand of cricket.” We wanted to make sure that we were playing some good cricket here, said the bowling coach.
“You've been made aware as a group that this wasn't going to be an easy tour. We knew this was going to be a big tour for us; we haven't played our best white-ball cricket outside of India so we put a heavy emphasis on being here and playing some good cricket.”
But he also mentioned that it's not just about preparation; they need to also consider the conditions and what they are doing in each game.
“There's a lot of planning that goes into these kinds of games. Then we have to assess and read the conditions.”
The former South African pacer also praised the Indian bowling attack for adapting well to the Eden Park venue in Auckland. Eden Park has some unusual ground dimensions which cause a challenge for visiting teams.
India's bowling attack did well not to get caught up in the ground dimensions.
“The boys adapted well to the conditions. For me, it was about taking the dimensions out of the equation, and the guys executed the plans really well.”
The bowler also said that knowing where the field is set can give hints as to what they should bowl, but accuracy is also key.
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“Here in New Zealand, sometimes the field placements will tell you what to bowl, but you still need to put the ball in the right areas.”