IND vs SL: India bowling coach Morkel isn't worried about pacers' skills but 'heat, humidity, and Kookaburra ball'

India bowling coach Morne Morkel has laid out the biggest challenges for the team for the upcoming two-Test series against Sri Lanka in the island nation. India are without ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah among other players and Mohammed Siraj leads the bowling attack comprising of seven-Test old Prasidh Krishna and uncapped duo of Grunoor Brar and Auqib Nabi. Morkel isn't worried about the skillset of bowlers but other things - heat, humidity, and the Kookaburra ball.

Morkel isn't worried about bowlers but weather and ball in Sri Lanka

India are dealing with multiple injuries including Bumrah but have enough pacers in their arsenal to put up a fight and win, at least that is what Morkel thinks. Speaking ahead of the match at a press conference, Morkel laid out the challenges and said: "Our skill is there, and the planning will be there, but the biggest challenge coming to Sri Lanka is the heat, the humidity, and the Kookaburra ball going soft a little earlier."

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Talking about the potential solutions for the pacers on Sri Lanka pitches which are known to support spinners, Morkel said: "It's about how we can stack up overs together with intensity and create that pressure. Because we haven't played a lot of red-ball cricket in the last couple of months, going back into that is going to be a challenge as well.

"When the ball goes soft, what is our next step? We have to be street smart in terms of how we're going to use the crease or how we're going to use our short ball. We need to be able to do some of that quite quickly," he added.

Why Sri Lanka series is important India?

India are currently fifth on the World Test Champions (WTC) 2025-27 cycle with with four wins, four losses, and one draw in nine Tests. India must win the two-Test series, which starts August 15, if they are to keep their aspirations for WTC 2027 final alive. With players like Bumrah, Washington Sundar, Nitish Reddy, and Sai Sudharsan out injured, it won't be easy for India, especially in the foreign conditions.

India’s squad for Sri Lanka Tests – Shubman Gill (captain), K L Rahul (vice-captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant (w/k), Dhruv Jurel (w/k), Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Manav Suthar, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar, Devdutt Padikkal, Saransh Jain, Auqib Nabi and Sarfaraz Khan