The capital city of New Zealand is nicknamed “Windy Wellington” for the strong wind gustsOn Monday, the wind speed had reached 120kmph
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File photo of the Hnry Stadium in Wellington(Photo: X)
India bowling coach Morne Morkel has given an interesting advice to the Indian players who are preparing to take on New Zealand in the upcoming two-match Test series as part of the all-format tour which kicked-off last week with a five-match T20I series.
The first two T20Is are done, with India winning both in close and nail-biting contestsThere are three more matches to be played before the men in blue lock horns with the Blackcaps in a five-match ODI series, starting from Wednesday, November 4.
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India’s tour of New Zealand will conclude with two Test matches next month and while all the focus currently remains on the white-ball assignments, the team management, led by head coach Gautam Gambhir, have internally started to prepare for the two five-day matches in Wellington and Christchurch.
Seeds have been planted
Speaking ahead of the third T20I at Wellington, Morne Morkel confirmed that the seeds have been planted for India’s preparation for the two Test matchesMorkel himself said that he has asked the players back home to get a “very strong fan” and get accustomed to the powerful windAccording to the South African, that will be their preparation.
“We’ve spoken about Wellington, especially before the start of the tour, and we’ve planted those seedsI spoke to some of the boys who were back in India last night, and they asked what the conditions are likeI said, ‘Make sure you get a very strong fan at homeWhen you walk into the fan that is going to be your preparation,” Morne Morkel said.
Interestingly, the capital city of New Zealand is nicknamed “Windy Wellington” for the strong wind gustsMorkel went as far as to say that the hotel, in which the Indian team is staying, was shaking due to the powerful breeze and that’s why the players have to beware of it.
“This wind is a different beastI was in the hotel this morning and the whole building was sort of shakingSo I think it’s going to be a new sort of thing that we add to our books for the guys to get used to and accustomed to with a quick turnaround,” Morkel added.
The 43-year-old then spoke about the impact the wind will have on the playersMorne Morkel feels that it will not only affect the bowlers but also have some implications for the batters“For us, it is looking forward to that challenge and taking it head-on and not really making excusesThis wind can impact a lot of things, it can impact batting, your stance, your crease, it can impact many factors,” Morkel said.
The Indian bowling coach then expressed his hope to get the players in the right mental space to take on the challenge instead of seeing it negativelyMorkel is also hoping that someone from the bowling attack will be determined to bowl off the wind.
“Hopefully, we can get those guys in a mental space where they look forward to that challengeAt the end of the day, you need somebody to put their hand up and bowl into the wind, because we can’t have four guys bowling off the wind,” Morkel concluded.
When will the Test series begin?
The two match Test series begins from 19th November onwards at Wellington, while the second match starts from 27th November.
