Tragedy hit the Indian cricket team before their opening game in the 2025 Champions Trophy when Morne Morkel left the team's camp in Dubai following the demise of his father. The development has come just two days after the team landed in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the mega event.

According to a report by Dainik Jagran, Morkel has flown back to South Africa from Dubai. There is no clarity on his return dates yet. Notably, Morkel was absent from the Indian team's training session on Monday (February 17). However, he was present with the team on Sunday (February 16), which was their first day of training since landing in the Gulf city.

Morkel's absence comes as a blow to the team as the pace bowling unit has been identified as a chink in India's armour by many with Jasprit Bumrah absent. While Mohammed Shami is still finding his feet after coming back from injury following a 14-month hiatus, Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana lack experience in the ODI format and have played a combined 12 matches in their career.

For those unversed, Morkel took charge as the bowling coach of the Indian team in September last year following Gautam Gambhir's appointment as head coach. Morkel joined a support staff which also included Abhishek Nayyar and Ryan Ten Doeschate as assistant coaches and T Dilip as the field coach. Recently, Sitanshu Kotak also joined the coaching staff as the batting coach.

India is set to begin their campaign in the marquee event on Thursday (February 20) against Bangladesh at the Dubai International Stadium. The Men in Blue will play arch-rivals Pakistan on Sunday (February 23) in a blockbuster clash at the same venue. The 2013 champions will end their league stage campaign with a face-off against New Zealand on March 2. If India qualifies for the semi-final, it will take place on March 4 in Dubai.

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