Indian bowling coach Morne Morkel has given a hint that Team India will rotate their players in the upcoming five-match T20I series against West Indies as well. Speaking to the media ahead of the opener in Lucknow, Morkel said that winning the games will still be the first priority, but said that following the Asian Games might force the management to avoid a settled playing XI throughout the series as well.
“I’m pretty sure Gautam will look to rotate,” Morkel said. “I mean, that is up to the selectors, and obviously the coach and the captain in terms of the playing 11, or which playing 11 will be the best to win a game for India on home soil. And that will always be the main focus. In terms of the starting 11, the guys just came back from the Asian Games, so we’ll assess how everybody is feeling after jet lag, after travelling, and then from there make a plan.”
Morkel also said that he is excited for Team India to grow their talent pool further during the series and welcomed back players like Mayank Yadav and Prince Yadav to the team as well.
“Mayank Yadav, he’s back from injury, so I look forward to see how he goes when he gets an opportunity,” Morkel said. “If you look at Mayank, immediately what comes to mind is his pace, his X-factor. Prince, where he was a net bowler a couple of years ago, he’s now playing for India. That resilience, the hard work he’s put into his game to reach international stage is admiring.”
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“So for me, that shows that these guys are hard-working players. Mayank had a couple of setbacks with injury, back-to-back setbacks for that, for a young player to get through that and then again find themselves in a situation to play for India just shows attitude. At the end of the day, you want guys here that are in a squad or playing for India that have fantastic attitudes, that are keen to work, keep on working hard, because those guys will deliver for the team,” he again said.
However, another player who will likely benefit due to rotation is youngster Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. Even though he did feature in the Asian Games with Sanju Samson moving down to No.3, India are likely to go back to their first-choice opening combination, Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson at home. But with five matches to play, Sooryavanshi might get another chance as well. Even if he doesn’t get to play, he shouldn’t be deterred, according to Morkel.
“We all know that the talent of Vaibhav, I think the more time he spends in this environment with the quality players, the more time he trains at this standard will only be great for his cricket,” Morkel added. “And if he’s not getting that game time, he’s still on a bus, in the dugout, in the hotel with guys with a lot of experience. And I think with him sharing that sort of dressing room and talking through guys, just actually watching how the guys go through their processes and how they set up innings will be key for him.”
“I’m a big believer sometimes, if you put guys in the right environment and they can ask the right questions and they can observe. So I always challenge them. I said, ‘watch what this guy is doing in training, how does he face his first 15 balls?’ And for any young player, if he gets game time or if that game time is a little limited, it’s still our job to make sure that these guys learn, they grow and they ask questions. I think that for me is a fantastic growth sort of mind map. And yeah, I always think for me, I mean, I’m a fast bowler. I can’t really talk to most batting, but I always ask him on the bus, ‘what’s one thing you’ve learned today? Tell me, what did you think about that guy’s batting?’ And that makes him think. And I think next time when he comes to nets, you know, that is sort of things he’ll observe and he’ll adapt it to his game,” Morne Morkel concluded.
