A tragedy struck in the Indian team even before the start of the ICC Champions Trophy. The new bowling coach, Morne Morkel left for home due to a personal emergency on February 17th. He travelled with the team to come to Dubai for the tournament on February 15th but was allowed to go back home as his father had passed away after prolong illness.
India’s bowling coach rejoins at Champions Trophy
Fortunately, however, the South African legend has rejoined the Indian camp. The Indian team had a practice session on February 26 (Wednesday), where Morne Morkel was seen chatting with other support staff and squad members. Apart from this, Rishabh Pant was also seen at the practice after he was sidelined from the India vs Pakistan due to a viral. This is indeed a big boost to India, who will face New Zealand in the last final group stage game at Champions Trophy.
GOOD NEWS FOR TEAM INDIA
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) February 26, 2025
– Rishabh Pant & Morne Morkel has returned back into the Practice session. [RevSportz] pic.twitter.com/Cm5agDFX20
India-New Zealand already qualified
Apparently, there won’t be much carrying on the India vs New Zealand clash, scheduled on March 2. This is because both the Group A sides have already qualified for the Champions Trophy semi-finals. The only thing that this match would attain is the final league standings. The winner will end as A1 and will face the second-placed Group B. Conversely, Group B toppers will face the second-placed side from Group A.
Apart from this, there would be temptations for making some changing in this upcoming dead rubber. The likes of Varun Chakravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Rishabh Pant and Washington Sundar haven’t had any game time and might be considered for selection. As for the Kiwis, they would want Daryl Mitchell to fit in after he missed the last game against Bangladesh.
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