Morne Morkel reveals emotional chat with father after being offered India bowling coach role: 'When I ended call...'

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Morne Morkel, the new bowling coach of the Indian cricket team, has revealed that he had an emotional phone call with his father after he was first offered the role.

The former South Africa quick is set to start his stint with the Indian cricket team with the upcoming Test series against Bangladesh. He has already joined the Indian team practicing in Chennai ahead of the first Test which starts on September 19.

The 39-year-old, who played 89 Test matches for South Africa, said he let the feeling sink in before calling his dad even before making a call to his wife.

"When I ended the call, I sat for about five minutes in the room reflecting on it and then I first phoned my dad. He spoke to me, I didn't even go to my wife. You know, normally they say go to your wife first, but I spoke to my dad and I mean, being a cricket fan for years and knowing what was going to come up, this is quite a special moment for me," Morne Morkel said in a video posted by the BCCI.

"So yeah, I enjoyed it for about 5 to 7 minutes to myself and then obviously shared with the family that this is an opportunity and potentially that might happen. I'm just so delighted that we eventually got things over the line, and I'm here," he added.

Played against a lot of players, important to form a relationship

Further, the former speedster said that he has played against a lot of cricketers in the current Indian team, and therefore forming a bond of friendship was important to start with.

"It is just important to, to connect well, with the guys. I've played a lot against some of the players. I've seen and connected a little bit to some of the guys playing in the IPL and to now be in a camp, and to form friendship and to form relationships for me is very important," he said.

Morne Morkel has also played against head coach Gautam Gambhir, and under his captaincy at the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). The duo then worked together as coaching staff members at the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). Morkel was offered the role after recommendation from Gambhir. Morkel's last outing for South Africa came in April 2018 in a Test match against Australia.