India vs South Africa: Morne Morkel Expresses Delight In Ruturaj Gaikwad's Selection, Says 'Will Do The Country Proud...'

India vs South Africa: While addressing the press conference, Team India bowling coach Morne Morkel expressed confidence in Indian batter Ruturaj Gaikwad. He said that if he gets a chance in the upcoming India vs South Africa ODI series, "he will do the country proud." Ahead of the first ODI scheduled to take place in Ranchi on November 30, Morkel praised Gaikwad's quality as a player.

"It's great to have him here. He's been a quality player for a number of years, and if he gets this chance, I'm pretty sure he'll do the country very proud," the Indian coach said.

Morkel said that the South African batters will test skills of the Indian bowlers under pressure, help them grow, and provide the bowling unit with vital experience, especially in taking wickets during the middle overs of white-ball cricket.

"For Arshdeep and Harshit, all those guys, it's a great opportunity. We're always looking to give those guys as much game time for them to pick up experience, and they're going to play against a quality batting line-up," Morkel said.

Morkel said facing SA players like Matthew Breetzke, Dewald Brevis, and Aiden Markram will test the team's ability to handle pressure, seize opportunities and help the bowling unit gain valuable experience.

"I think Matthew Breetzke, Brevis, Aiden Markram, how those guys play their white ball cricket as an aggressive brand of cricket they are playing. So it's going to be a good test to see how they handle the pressure, how they play in the situations or the opportunities that they're going to be given and how they handle those opportunities in those situations and grow from there. I think it's good for us to give our bowling unit some experience," Morkel added.

"It's good for us to see how they can bowl in that middle phase, how we can take wickets because at the end of the day in white ball cricket you want to be taking wickets and have strike bowlers that can do that. So I'm excited for them to get a good run in this series, and we'll have to get them ready because it's going to be a tough one," the Team India bowling coach said further.

Inputs from Agency