Gambhir's old video on foreign coaches 'vanishing' resurfaces after Morkel joins India's backroom staff

Newly-appointed India head coach Gautam Gambhir was keen on having former South Africa seamer Morne Morkel as part of his backroom staff with BCCI, after a slight hesitation, granting Gautam his wish.

With Morkel’s appointment, the netizens quickly brought Gautam’s not-so-old video, which he only posted on his Instagram handle, to everyone’s notice, wherein he commented on BCCI's policy of appointing foreign coaches, saying they take money and vanish.

Meanwhile, Morkel has joined assistant coaches Ryan ten Doeschate and Abhishek Nayar and fielding mentor T Dilip as part of Gambhir’s backroom staff.

When Gambhir took on BCCI’s tactics

Duncan Fletcher - the former England coach, was the last foreign coach of the Indian Team, with the BCCI picking Indians as the top bosses since.

Speaking during an event in 2022, Gambhir was vocal about his thoughts against BCCI's policy of appointing foreign coaches, saying there are so many options within the Indian circuit for the board to choose from.

He added that the Indian fans end up giving too much importance to these overseas coaches, and they eventually vanish after earning buckets.

“One really good thing that has happened in Indian cricket in the past six or seven years is that Indians have started coaching the Indian cricket team. I am a very strong believer in this. Indians should coach the Indian cricket team. All these foreign coaches, whom we end up giving a lot of importance to, they only come here, they make money, and they vanish,” Gambhir said during an interview.

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Morkel and Gambhir have a rich history of sharing the dressing room. Both were part of the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) backroom staff fortwo seasons in the IPL, where Gautam served as the mentor and Morkel as the bowling coach.The two stalwarts have also played together for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for three seasons.

While Team India's head coach role is Gambhir’s first international coaching assignment, Morne served as the bowling coach of Pakistan during the 2023 World Cup.

Gautam began his tenure with the away Sri Lanka series, where the Men in Blue won the T20Is (3-0) but suffered a shocking ODI series loss (1-2). However, Morkel’s first assignment will be the two-match Test series against Bangladesh in Chennai on September 19.

(With inputs from agencies)