Former South African pacer Morne Morkel on Monday resigned as the bowling coach of the Pakistan cricket team after their league stage exit from the ICC World Cup 2023 in India.
The Proteas legend had joined the Pakistan squad on a six-month contract in June this year. Morkel’s first assignment with the men’s team was their tour to Sri Lanka for the two-match Test series.
The Pakistan Cricket Board will announce his replacement in due course. Pakistan's next assignment is a three-match Test series against Australia scheduled to take place Down Under from December 14 to January 7 next year.
Morkel's departure could pave the way for former Pakistan speedster Umar Gul, who had filled in as the bowling coach in a recent series against Afghanistan.
Pakistan's famed attack flops in India
Pakistan had one of the most lethal bowling attacks in the tournament on paper but they failed to back that up with performances on the field which led to their early exit from the World Cup.
On top of that, Pakistan conceded more than 300 runs on four occasions in the tournament.
The entire Pakistani bowling lineup picked up 65 out of the 90 wickets in the league stage with Shaheen Shah Afridi finishing on top of their list with 18 scalps from 9 ODIs, followed by Haris Rauf (16) and Mohammad Wasim Jr (10).
Spinners disappoint on friendly pitches
The failure of the spinners on friendly pitches in India and lack of wickets in the middle overs were also some of the big reasons behind their string of defeats.
Even captain Babar Azam admitted this fact after Pakistan crashed out following their fifth and final loss against England in their last match.
"And our spinners aren't taking wickets, which doesn't help. That has a big effect because you need to take wickets in the middle overs. The pitch is very true and the margin of error is very low for fast bowlers, which explains the big scores we have conceded," Babar said after the England match.
