Munaf the unsung hero - Eric Simons

[zaheer]

Simons calls Munaf Patel the unsung hero :woot: Bowling coach Eric Simons has called Munaf Patel the unsung hero of India's World Cup victory, saying the high degree of technical skills that India's bowling attack possessed made up for its lack of express pace all through the tournament. After the World Cup win, as the Indian team made their euphoric victory lap around the Wankhede, Munaf and Simons, who had missed the lap, were found outside the group, talking and laughing. Munaf, Simons said, had been one of the most inspirational stories he had encountered. Munaf was not an automatic choice for the playing XI. However, an injury had ruled out Praveen Kumar from the squad before the start of the World Cup. Praveen had until then formed, along with Ashish Nehra, the back-up unit for Zaheer Khan. "We had singled out the bowlers for the last 3-4 series and Praveen's injury had been a setback for us as he was part of our plans," Simons said. It was Munaf, Simons said, who had given the bowling unit reassurance when he arrived, with both an awareness of his own skills and his ability to adapt. "Munaf is one of the unsung heroes of the World Cup for us - he stepped in and played a vital part for us, after we lost Praveen and Ashish suffered from injuries during the tournament. Munaf learnt to bowl within his skills and he took crucial wickets." Munaf was India's third-highest wicket-taker in the World Cup behind Zaheer and Yuvraj Singh with 11 victims. Munaf's wicket-to-wicket line and ability to generate bounce off the Indian tracks made him hard to get away by opposition batsman. Despite the pounding received by the bowlers in the early half of the tournament, "Munaf never once doubted himself or what he could offer the team," Simons said. "His work ethic is enormous; he has a very strong and steady head on his shoulders and calmness in any situation. :omg: He gave Zaheer the freedom to bowl very freely and aggressively." Simons said in his 15 months with the team, Munaf had become a "close friend". When he came into the Indian set-up from South Africa, Simons said that it had been his job to "bring a different outlook to the bowling unit, not to tell them how to bowl, but just offer ideas about what options they could take." The main areas of focus during the World Cup, the bowlers understood, would be the advantage of familiar conditions and bowling to their strengths. "There was a great deal of talent in the bowling line-up and we knew that our plans had to be based around their skills. What happens is that a lot of time people make plans for bowlers that really don't suit them." The bowlers understood that building pressure through containment could be made to play as important a role as taking wickets, "because we knew it would be easier to chase a total of 260 rather than 360. We spoke a lot about bowling partnerships, that if you weren't getting wickets, building pressure on one side could get wickets at the other." India's plans were flexible but the bowlers had talked about the different venues and batsmen they would be bowling to, working out possibilities of "lines, angles and variations of pace" that could come into play. "We talked about the fields that could be set to their bowling, who had to stay slightly deeper for the singles, who had to field where. "My admiration for the guys grew and I have been very impressed by what they can do in conditions that do not suit them at all. It is what Indian bowlers have to do to succeed here. We had a high degree of technical skills in our side, which showed that you didn't need a bowler of express pace to make a difference." It is why, he said, that when overseas pace bowlers travelled to India, they looked what he described as "less daunting." Zaheer had become one of the best practitioners of his art in the world according to Simons. In the months leading up to the World Cup, he had developed the slower slow ball that wobbles, and works particularly well against left-handers. In ESPNcricinfo commentary during the World Cup, it was first described as the 'bare knuckle ball', as it comes off the knuckle and rather than spin on its axis, wobbles over a couple of times. It has got the better of a few batsmen in the World Cup. Simons said that the team calls it the 'knuckle ball.' "Zaheer began working on it during the World Twenty20 in the West Indies and was ready to use it during the World Cup." The knuckle ball, Simons explained, could not be spotted by the batsmen through the grip and the bowler could even use arm-rotation at his normal speed to be able to bowl it. Given the future calendar for Indian cricket which involves tours to West Indies, England and Australia, Simons said he believed India would have to both rotate their best bowlers to keep them ready for the big events and also refresh their bench strength to get bowlers like Jaidev Unadkat and Umesh Yadav, for example, playing enough at the highest level to do the job when they had to be suddenly called in.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/icc_cricket_worldcup2011/content/current/story/509644.html

[Rajiv]

Ironic, a post by zaheer for Munaf

[Sir john]

munna :two_thumbs_up:

[vvvslaxman]

Zaheer had become one of the best practitioners of his art in the world according to Simons. In the months leading up to the World Cup' date= he had developed the slower slow ball that wobbles, and works particularly well against left-handers.

Interesting. Gotta see the replays.

[Manny_Pacquiao]

munna in last 12 months: 19 matches, 29 wickets @ 25.27. strike rate 31.4, and ER of 4.82. those are superb numbers.

[zaheer]

Ironic' date=' a post by zaheer for Munaf[/quote'] hahaha... it is on front page of Cricinfo!! lol

[Fontaine]

Myself and a few others have been saying this for some time. He had maybe one really bad game in the tournament. Apart from that he's been very good and very consistent.

[BERGKAMP]

Shabash Munna mara dikra.

[ganeshran]

Dadaji is consistent at being lazy and nonchalant

[Switchblade]

Simons calls Munaf Patel the unsung hero http://www.espncricinfo.com/icc_cricket_worldcup2011/content/current/story/509644.html Bowling coach Eric Simons has called Munaf Patel the unsung hero of India's World Cup victory, saying the high degree of technical skills that India's bowling attack possessed made up for its lack of express pace all through the tournament. After the World Cup win, as the Indian team made their euphoric victory lap around the Wankhede, Munaf and Simons, who had missed the lap, were found outside the group, talking and laughing. Munaf, Simons said, had been one of the most inspirational stories he had encountered. Munaf would not have been an automatic choice for the playing XI, had injury not ruled out Praveen Kumar from the squad before the start of the World Cup. Praveen had until then formed, along with Ashish Nehra, the back-up unit for Zaheer Khan. "We had singled out the bowlers for the last 3-4 series and Praveen's injury had been a setback for us as he was part of our plans," Simons said. It was Munaf, Simons said, who had given the bowling unit reassurance when he arrived, with both an awareness of his own skills and his ability to adapt. "Munaf is one of the unsung heroes of the World Cup for us - he stepped in and played a vital part for us, after we lost Praveen and Ashish suffered from injuries during the tournament. Munaf has learnt to understand his bowling and stuck to his game plan taking some crucial wickets." Munaf was India's third-highest wicket-taker in the World Cup behind Zaheer and Yuvraj Singh with 11 victims. Munaf's wicket-to-wicket line and ability to generate bounce off the Indian tracks made him hard to get away by opposition batsman. Despite the pounding received by the bowlers in the early half of the tournament, "Munaf never once doubted himself or what he could offer the team," Simons said. "His work ethic is enormous; he has a very strong and steady head on his shoulders and calmness in any situation. He gave Zaheer the freedom to bowl very freely and aggressively." Simons said in his 15 months with the team, Munaf had become a "close friend." When he came into the Indian set-up from South Africa, Simons said that it had been his job to "bring a different outlook to the bowling unit, not to tell them how to bowl, but just offer ideas about what options they could take." The main areas of focus during the World Cup, the bowlers understood, would be the advantage of familiar conditions and bowling to their strengths. "There was a great deal of talent in the bowling line-up and we knew that our plans had to be based around their skills. What happens is that a lot of time people make plans for bowlers that really don't suit them." The bowlers understood that building pressure through containment could be made to play as important a role as taking wickets, particularly if they could give the batsmen a 100 runs less to chase when batting second. Simons said, "We spoke a lot about bowling partnerships, that if you weren't getting wickets, building pressure on one side could get wickets at the other." India's plans were flexible but the bowlers had talked about the different venues and batsmen they would be bowling to, working out possibilities of "lines, angles and variations of pace" that could come into play. "We talked about the fields that could be set to their bowling, who had to stay slightly deeper for the singles, who had to field where. "My admiration for the guys grew and I have been very impressed by what they can do in conditions that do not suit them at all. It is what Indian bowlers have to do to succeed here. We had a high degree of technical skills in our side, which showed that you didn't need a bowler of express pace to make a difference." It is why, he said, that when overseas pace bowlers travelled to India, they looked what he described as "less daunting." Zaheer had become one of the best practitioners of his art in the world according to Simons. In the months leading up to the World Cup, he had developed the slower slow ball that wobbles, and works particularly well against left-handers. In ESPNcricinfo commentary during the World Cup, it was first described as the 'bare knuckle ball', as it comes off the knuckle and rather than spin on its axis, wobbles over a couple of times. It has got the better of a few batsmen in the World Cup. Simons said that the team calls it the 'knuckle ball.' "Zaheer began working on it during the World Twenty20 in the West Indies and was ready to use it during the World Cup." The knuckle ball, Simons explained, could not be spotted by the batsmen through the grip and the bowler could even use arm-rotation at his normal speed to be able to bowl it. About Harbhajan Singh's role in the tournament, in which he took nine wickets, but bowled at an economy rate of 4.48 Simons said, that the off-spinner, who "wears his heart on his sleeve and wants to perform" was affected at not taking wickets, in the first half of the tournament but hit his stride in the knock out. "Early on he was frustrated at not getting more wickets and that is natural but we realised as a strike bowler for our team all opposition batsmen would see him as a threat and try to block out, which is what happened. But he got more aggressive in the second half of the tournament, and found when batsmen were forced to try and go after him, he took important wickets." Given the future calendar for Indian cricket which involves tours to West Indies, England and Australia, Simons said he believed India would have to both rotate their best bowlers to keep them ready for the big events and also refresh their bench strength to get bowlers like Jaidev Unadkat and Umesh Yadav, for example, playing enough at the highest level to do the job when they had to be suddenly called in.

[Dhruv200]

The two balls he bowled to Hafeez and Razzaq was highlight of munna,s spell in the world cup.

[Switchblade]

Razzaq one was brilliant

[pinkfreud]

http://www.indiancricketfans.com/showthread.php?t=264517 Munnabhai :mi: :mi:

[Karan114]

Yes, good stuff from him since his comeback. A year ago he wasn't really in the frame but the performances in the tri-series in Lanka, NZ and SA got him into the squad on merit and he really delivered under pressure in the semi final. Looking ahead...he would be a better choice than the unproven Unadkat and Yadav as a back up seamer in a Test squad.

[Fontaine]

That cutter to Razzaq was perfect. To bowl that under pressure in a high profile game takes a lot of skill. Razzaq looked completely devastated after that.

[1983-2011]

Playing World Cup at home was a big advantage: Munaf Munaf Patel may have taken only 11 wickets from eight World Cup games, but he played a key role in India's victorious campaign. His presence ensured that the team did not miss Praveen Kumar much. In a candid chat with TOI, Munaf spoke on the just-concluded World Cup and his experiences during the event. Excerpts...

What went in India's favour? The crowd support was amazing. Playing at home was a huge advantage for each and every player in the team. From the pitches, the weather conditions to the spectators, we know everything and that helped us. There was a time when some of the foreign team had said that playing in the IPL would help them adjust to Indian conditions better, but those teams only played Twenty20 cricket. And the shortest version of the game can't give you the best reading of the conditions here. Was Zaheer Khan the bowling captain? Zak is the senior most pacer in the team and has a plenty of experience. He is one cricketer who is always ready to step in if you need help. He wasn't the bowling captain as such but he offered his experiences whenever the team required it. What I like the most about Zak is that he is a good reader of the game. You're used as first-change bowler in the World Cup mostly... If the team management feels that I can do the job in that position, I have no problem. I enjoyed my role as first-change bowler. It's challenging to bowl in that position. How difficult was this World Cup for the pacers? The pitches here are flat and so you need variations to survive at this level. Pace is not going to take you anywhere. Change of pace is the key on Indian pitches. In slog overs or during Powerplays, if you are unable to mix it up, then you are bound to concede runs. Here, I would also like to compliment our bowling coach Eric Simons for working hard with us. In the sub-continent, if you can bowl using your intelligence, then you can win matches for your team. How crucial was the role of the other support staff? Our support staff was just amazing. The trainer of our team (Ramji Srinivasan) worked really hard with me. Throughout the tournament, he kept pushing me to do the extra bit with my training and I was also willing to work hard and follow all the instructions. I was ready for this big show. It was good fun spending some extra-time on the field just to lift your performance level. People talked about how the Indian bowling department lacked genuine pace bowlers. But let to tell you one thing - nothing can be achieved with pace in modern cricket. It's all about variations and nothing else. I would also like to thank my pace academy coach TA Sekar under whom even Zak and Sreesanth have trained. He is the one on whom I can fall back on if something wrong. Were you under pressure to perform? Before the South Africa tour, I didn't even think about the World Cup. For me, every match is a normal match. My job is to bowl wicket-to-wicket and I do it to the best of my ability. I don't think much about pressure. It was great to be a part of a World Cup-winning team and I am cherishing this moment. How was the celebration at home? People came to my house for celebrations in Bharuch and congratulated me for the win. They had tea, sweets and wished me good luck before leaving. Where does Munaf Patel go from here? IPL is my next assignment and I will try and continue to bowl for Mumbai Indians the way I did in the World Cup. MI have a good team this year under Sachin Tendulkar and I hope I can make some useful contributions.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/cricket/cricket-world-cup-2011/interviews/Playing-World-Cup-at-home-was-a-big-advantage-Munaf/articleshow/7890295.cms

[WC2011INDIA]

Munaf speaks English?

[1983-2011]

It seems Munaf has directed some of his comments at someone i.e. media, foreign cricket pundits

[1983-2011]

Munaf speaks English?

It was in GujHinGlish

[Fontaine]

The guy is absolutely right. He's understood how to bowl in these conditions more than other immature bowlers like Pathan, Sree etc. More importantly he had the balls and mental strength to keep bowling to his strengths instead of guys like Sree and Pathan that fall apart at the first sign the batsmen look to take them on or get aggressive. One of the most pitiful things I've seen in Indian Cricket for some time was watching Sreesanth snap like a twig when the SA crowd got on his case and the batsmen looked the return his aggression in the test series there. With Zaheer not 100% we critically needed Sree to stand up and be a man. Instead we got a crybaby that p*ssed his pants.