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Pakistan men's cricket team's bowling coach Morne Morkel has resigned as bowling coach just days after Babar Azam-led side’s exit from ICC Men’s ODI World Cup 2023, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said in a media release on November 13.
Morkel had joined the Pakistan side on a six-month contract in June earlier this year. After the completion of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 where he was associated with the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) franchise, Morkel’s first assignment as Pakistan’s bowling coach was their tour of Sri Lanka for the two-match Test series.
PCB said that Morkel's replacement will be announced in due course. Pakistan are scheduled to tour Australia for a three-match Test series starting December 14, 2023.
In the World Cup 2023, Pakistan’s bowling was criticised for not being able to take wickets with the new ball. In the absence of an injured Naseem Shah, Pakistan’s bowling looked toothless.
While Shaheen Afridi bowed out of the tournament as the third-highest wicket-taker with 18 scalps from nine games, he only took three wickets with the new ball. Haris Rauf’s raw pace could not trouble batters as he ended up breaking the record for conceding the most runs in a World Cup edition. Rauf took 16 wickets but failed to control the pace of the game as he leaked boundaries. Hasan Ali did not impress either. Mohammad Wasim Jr. was the only positive for the Pakistan team in the bowling department as he showed promise.
"A bit of mixed bag to be honest. We are standing in the fifth position. Coming into the World Cup, the dream was to finish at the top and at least reach the semis. With the ball and bat, we have been soft in certain situations. There were plenty of things we can point fingers at," Morkel had said before the semi-final clash.
“Many of the opportunities haven't gone our way. As management and players we need to go and see where we can improve. We want to take the white-ball game of Pakistan to next level. We have to walk away with a lot of positives and on a high note and head home to reflect on our performance," the South African added.
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