Morne Morkel is one of the deadliest fast bowlers South Africa have produced who has height and pace to trouble the best of the batsmen. The lanky pacer, Morne Morkel features in the fearsome trio of world cricket – Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander; a perfect combination of pace, bounce and seam for the Proteas.
Let’s have a look at the little known facts about the lanky Proteas Pacer.
1.Family
Morne Morkel hails from an Afrikaner family, who are big cricket fans. Morne is the youngest of three children of Albert and Mariana Morkel. Prior to marriage, he used to live with his brother Albie and teammate AB de Villiers in Pretoria.
2.Childhood
Morne was born and raised in Vereeniging.
3.Nickname
His nickname is Moras and Lobster.
4.Current IPL team
Morne Morkel plays international cricket for South Africa and represents Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL.
5.Vegan Diet
The secret to cricketer’s success over the last few years is the vegan diet that he adopted of late. Even though he is called lobster for his tall height and ability to put opponents under pressure, but Morkel actually refrains from eating non-vegetarian stuff.
6.First Class debut
MorneMorkel began his first class career at the age of 19 with a match for Easterns against the touring West Indies.
7.Awesome Performance in 2007 T20 WC
The immense cricket potential of Morne Morkel came to spotlight during the 2007 T20 Cricket World Cup; Morne Morkel bowled marvellously in the tournament finishing with 9 wickets at an excellent bowling average of 13.33, almost unimaginable in Twenty-twenty matches.
- Two Brothers opening the bowling
Morne Morkel’s played his 1st ODI match for Africa XI vs Asia XI in 2007. He picked up 3 wickets in the match. Morne Morkel opened the bowling with Albie Morkel and this was the first time in ODI history that two brothers opened the bowling attack for a team.
9.Purple Cap in 2012
Morne Morkel has earned the purple cap in 2012 for his astonishing bowling in 2012 IPL while playing for Delhi Daredevils. The speedster claimed 25 wickets in 16 IPL matches in IPL 5.
10.Major Teams
South Africa, Africa XI, Delhi Daredevils, Easterns, Kent, Kolkata Knight Riders, Rajasthan Royals, Titans, Yorkshire.
