"Looking forward to great journey," says Morne Morkel as he begins stint as India's bowling coach

Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], September 14 (ANI): Bowling coach Morne Morkel lavished praise on Indian players for their professionalism and said he is looking forward to identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the players. Morkel linked up with the Indian team in Chennai ahead of his first assignment against Bangladesh in a two-match Test series.

In his illustrious career, Morkel featured as one of the tearaways in a star-studded bowling line-up. He engaged in some memorable battles with Indian stalwarts Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. During his time in the Indian Premier League as a player and a coach, he linked up with various Indian players who are part of the current set-up. Morkel is looking forward to the journey that lies ahead of him and using his experience to help the Indian team that brims with professionalism.

"I am looking forward to a great journey and time with India. For me, it is important to connect well with the guys. I have played a lot against some of the players. I have seen and connected with some of the guys in the IPL. The goal is to get an understanding of the guys, their strengths and their weaknesses. I was blown away by how they went about things, how they went with the things, and how professional they were. So that is a good sign," Morkel said in a video posted by the BCCI.

After an underwhelming performance against Sri Lanka in the ODIs, expectations will be running high for the upcoming Test series against Bangladesh, which will begin on Thursday. With a pool of players that is a mix of experienced and young talent, Morkel is looking to protect and better the system that operates on itself.

"I know there will be expectations of winning, and luckily, I have experienced that in my playing days. I can share that knowledge. When I was setting the plan, I reflected upon that we are so lucky to have quality senior players. The senior players lead the charge. It's our responsibility to support them. Just give them the right sort of advice we can give. It's a set-up that sort of operates by itself. So to protect that and better it is the goal," Morkel added. Under the new regime of head coach Gautam Gambhir, Morkel was named as the successor to Paras Mhambrey, who worked with T20 World Cup-winning coach Rahul Dravid.

India's squad for the 1st Test against Bangladesh: Rohit Sharma (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah, Yash Dayal. (ANI)