Bangladesh appoint Albie Morkel as power-hitting coach for the ODI series against South Africa

Former South Africa all-rounder Albie Morkel has been named the power-hitting coach by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) ahead of their upcoming tour of South Africa.

The 40-year-old has already started working with the team for the three-match ODI series beginning on March 18. This marks the first instance that the Bangladesh national team has sought the services of a power-hitting coach.

Bangladesh have struggled in recent times when it comes to their batting skills in the death overs. The lower-middle struggled immensely in their last two white-ball series against Afghanistan and Pakistan at home.

Morkel joins fellow South African Allan Donald on the Bangladesh coaching staff. The former pacer was appointed as the bowling coach of the side a couple of weeks ago.

Confirming the appointment of the former Proteas cricketer for the new coaching position, BCB Cricket Operations Chairman Jalal Yunus told Cricbuzz:

"He is a very experienced campaigner and we feel that our batters will be helped with his coaching."

The appointments are part of a complete coaching overhaul with head coach Russell Domingo still at the helm. Ashwell Prince and Ottis Gibson chose not to extend their contracts until the 2022 T20 World Cup and stepped down from their roles as batting and bowling coaches respectively.

Albie Morkel retired from cricket in 2019

The South African all-rounder had a prolific career in white-ball formats at the national level as well as franchise cricket. Known for his ability to play shots right from the word go, Morkel maintained a strike rate of 100 and 142 in ODI and T20I cricket respectively.

He was recently seen as the assistant coach of the Namibia team that qualified for the 2021 T20 World Cup.

Bangladesh tour of South Africa to begin on March 18

The Asian side will tour the Rainbow nation to contest three ODIs and two Tests. The fixtures are part of the ODI World Cup Super League and the World Test Championship.

The three ODIs will be played on March 18, March 20 and March 23 at the Wanderers and Centurion's Super Sport Park. The Test series is slated to commence on March 31 in Durban, while the second Test will begin on April 8.