Report: India’s bowling coach Morne Morkel returns home just before Champions Trophy opener vs Bangladesh; reason revealed

India’s bowling coach Morne Morkel has left the preparatory camp in Dubai and returned home to South Africa. The former Proteas pacer was met with a huge personal tragedy after it came to light that his father had passed away. Morkel was part of the initial preparations but wasn’t seen when the players took to the field. The news came to light after Dainik Jagran first reported about the latest developments. 

Gautam Gambhir and Rohit Sharma will have to depend on the other staff members to help the bowlers in the nets. India will begin their Champions Trophy campaign on Thursday against Bangladesh. The Men in Blue’s last meeting with Bangladesh was in the semi-finals of the 2017 edition.  

It is believed that Arshdeep Singh will be leading the bowling charge with Mohammed Shami in the opening game. PTI reported on Monday that Arshdeep was the preferred choice over Harshit Rana for the match on Thursday. 23-year-old Rana was included in the squad after Jasprit Bumrah had failed to recover from his injury. 

Gautam Gambhir reveals why Varun Chakravarthy was picked 

Indian coach addressed the media just before the Champions Trophy and revealed the reason behind Varun Chakravarthy’s inclusion. The 33-year-old made his debut during the second ODI against England before being rested for the final game due to niggle. 

Gambhir said to the media “The only reason was because we wanted another wicket-taking option in the middle and we know that's what Varun Chakravarthy brings to the table”. Chakravarthy was the best bowler during the T20I series against England which forced the selectors to give the veteran bowler a late call-up to the ODI side. 

The 43-year-old also said “We know that Varun can be a massive threat and with a lot of teams who haven’t played him and he could be an X-factor as well. I’m not going to say that he’s going to start and all that stuff but it’s always good to have a strong bowling line-up”

“Because we know that if he can actually get those wickets in the middle, it’s always going to be an advantage and that was one of the reasons otherwise we know that Yashasvi has got a fabulous future ahead, it’s just that we could only pick 15," added head coach Gautam Gambhir.