- By Himanshu Badola
- Mon, 28 Jul 2025 01:13 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
BCCI coule come up with massive changes in Indian team's support staff irrespective of the result in the ongoing five-match Test series against England. India remained alive after both teams played out a thrilling draw in the Manchester Test.
The recent disappointing performances might have just put the bowling coach Morne Morkel and assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate in trouble as they are unlikely to retain their jobs with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) reportedly deciding to axe them.
As per a report in the Telegraph, the BCCI is "hell-bent on ringing in the changes" and will sack Morkel and ten Doeschate ahead of India's next Test series against the West Indies at home. However, the duo is expected to continue in the setup with the team till the Asia Cup which starts on 9 September in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), due to a lack of time to find their replacements.
The Test record for India under head coach Gautam Gambhir and the new support staff hasn't been promising so far with eight defeats in 14 matches. However, Gambhir is set to get an extended rope as Test team coach, as BCCI doesn't want too big changes in a team that is already under transition.
BCCI unhappy with bowling coach Morne Morkel
India's bowling coach Morne Morkel currently stands in the line of fire and the performance of the team in Manchester seems to have confirmed his exit. India went on to concede 669 runs in the first innings of the 4th Test against England.
The team management including Morkel faced massive criticism when the debutant pacer Anshul Kamboj was seen bowling at the speed of 120kmph in the fourth Test. Morkel has also been accused of failing to nurture a single talent since his time with Team India, specially in the Test format.
The decision-makers in BCCI are also unhappy with Kuldeep Yadav consistently remaining out of the playing XI despite Indian bowlers at times struggling to take wickets. "The coaches always talk of balance, but keeping a world-class wrist spinner like Kuldeep Yadav out has had disastrous consequences," a source in the report was quoted as saying by the Telegraph.
Apart from the team management, the chief selector, Ajit Agarkar and East’s representative Shiv Sundar Das are also under the scanner. Both Agarkar and Das are in England with the team India and several reports recently claimed that there is a miscommunication between the team management and the players regarding a few selection calls lately.
Notably, Both Morkel and ten Doeschate joined Team India, along with former assistant coach Abhishek Nayar, last year after Gambhir became the new head coach. Gambhir had worked with each one of them in the past during the IPL cricket. Nayar was sacked after India's 1-3 Test series defeat against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy earlier this year.