India’s bowling coach Morne Morkel on Tuesday (January 27) said rotation of bowlers in the ongoing T20I series against New Zealand was not just about their workload management but also to prevent opposition teams from strategising against them in the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026.
India have fielded different bowling combinations in the three T20Is against the Kiwis so far with pacers Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh and lead spinner Varun Chakravarthy getting rested at various stages.
“We’ve got a handful of bowlers that can bowl in every situation. Part of the thinking for us, leading into the World Cup, was to look at different combinations. We don’t want teams to have set plans against us,” Morkel said on the eve of the fourth T20I against New
Zealand.
“I think at the moment, we’re doing that quite well. If teams start to plan against us, they don’t know where we’re going to fit and how we’re going to play our cards. For us, it is important to give guys that opportunity in that role, to get comfortable in those roles,” he added.
One of the reasons behind the thinking, Morkel said, was India’s T20 World Cup schedule, as per which, they are set to play in conditions as different as New Delhi to Mumbai to Colombo.
“Because of the conditions we might face on the day, we’ll go up with different game plans. But, yeah, to have that quality in our bowling attack that allows us options is always a great place to be.
“Again, we’re going to use those guys as best as the conditions tell us on the day — in terms of who’s the best bowler to go towards a particular batter,” he added.
The presence of all-rounders Axar Patel and Hardik Pandya, Morkel said, allowed India the luxury of juggling with the bowling combination.
“For us, it’s about getting those bowling partnerships, getting that sorted for the World Cup. We want to try and get teams down, six, seven, eight (wickets) down by the 15th, 16th over. So, how we can plan that with our bowling attack to get those wickets is going to be important. We’ve got 11 match winners. And that’s a nice position to be in.
“Everybody has got a certain X factor about them. So, yeah, for us it’s just to keep on having good, clear communications about their roles. And then they also know, the buy-in for this team is that there’s no guarantee of starting in the 11,” said Morkel.
(With inputs from PTI)
