The strange case of Munaf Patel

[Guest Hiten.]

The Indian team management may be keen to have Munaf Patel in the squad, but the BCCI is not too happy with the paceman's attitude and appears to have second thoughts about sending him to Australia. The BCCI, it is learnt, has taken strong exception to Munaf's decision to skip the Ranji Trophy match between Maharashtra and Karnataka currently being played in Ratnagiri. To make matters worse, neither Maharashtra nor BCCI officials have not been able to contact him to get a feedback on his avaibility. "It is something which has not gone down well with the officials. If the Board does not get a proper feedback on his recovery and if he does not prove his fitness in domestic matches, it will be difficult for him to go to Australia", a BCCI source said. It is also learnt that chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar has not been able to contact Munaf nor does he have an idea about his whereabouts. Munaf, recuperating from a back strain, was supposed to play the Maharashtra-Karnataka Ranji match but had to be omitted from the team since Maharashtra Cricket officials could not establish contact with him. "He is prone to injuries and it is necessary for the BCCI to know how his rehabilitation programme is going. He has to show some seriousness", the source said. Munaf was to join the Indian cricket team in Australia as the 17th member from the third Test in Perth but the BCCI had made it clear that he would have to prove his fitness before embarking on the tour. gawd.... whats wrong this man (

[fineleg]

gawd.... whats wrong this man :((

He just needs to be told to get lost, and should never ever be considered for Ranji, Intl matches nothing. Just let him play gully cricket (that lazy idjet wont even play that) His attitude is the WORST EVER.

[jf1gp_1]

receiving advice from ICL

[arkay]

I think India would do well not to have Munaf in the team. If we are desperate, we can have Agarkar not that I am proposing his name.

[fineleg]

Agarkar is FAR BETTER than Munaf. Atleast AA gives close to 85-100% while playing - not like Daadaji Patel who gives negative: -50 to 10% on the field.

[msb1991]

Is there any more news on the calling up of a pacer from India to play in the second/third Test?

[Guest HariSampath]

Munaf had placed his mobile phone on his coffee table and has been running to answer it....he will get there (don't worry about the minor delay Vengsarkar)

[Mr. Wicket]

Munaf had placed his mobile phone on his coffee table and has been running to answer it....he will get there (don't worry about the minor delay Vengsarkar)

Please provide proof. Not about the coffee table/mobile phone, but that Grandpa Patel has actually *been running*. :P [btw hari, you have a PM]

[Guest Hiten.]

Munaf resurfaces, after his vanishing act Pune: Just when Indian team is struggling against the Aussies, there is one good news from back home. Munaf Patel, who went missing has finally been tracked down by CNN-IBN. He went underground after being dropped for the ongoing series in Australia. This man remains an enigma, not just for Team India and the BCCI, but also for his Ranji team. Munaf Patel went incommunicado for some time and didn't even turn up to play Maharashtra's crucial Ranji game against Karnataka. Finally, he turned up at the Maharashtra Cricket Assocation office on Friday. But his team missed his services as they crashed to an innings defeat against Karnataka. That has given more ammunition to his detractors who always question his attitude. "I was actually injured and went back home after the Bangalore Test match and tehn I was concentrating on my fitness," said Munaf Patel. Munaf got injured in the Kolkata Test against Pakistan and wasn't selected for the Australia tour. The selectors wanted him to play a Ranji game to prove his form and fitness before they could send him to Australia to join the team before the third Test. His absence hasn't helped matters though his state association is trying hard to recover lost ground. "The State Association (MCA) would be make a request to the Board to access his fitness at the National cricket Academy," said Ajay Shirke, MCA president. Munaf has been given enough chances by the selectors but has the reputation of breaking down at crucial stages. He says he is fitter now to tackle his next task. "I am fine now and fit to play. Whatever the Boarde will ask me to, I am ready to play," sais Munaf. For someone who impressed one and all after the tour to West Indies, Munaf has hardly done any justice to his potential. Its time he learns from his past mistakes because India recalls don't come easy.

[Desi Cartman]

:omg: why were they looking for him .. and now how can we make him disappear again ???

[beetle]

May be munaf is some kind of superhero..like "Shaktiman" and needs to go off to save the world with a mask on his face and his undies on the outside......:omg:

[varun]

May be munaf is some kind of superhero..like "Shaktiman" and needs to go off to save the world with a mask on his face and his undies on the outside......:omg:

roflmao :haha::haha::haha:

[msb1991]

I hope he is picked for the later Tests of the Australia tour, it is a short term risk worth taking.

[fineleg]

I hope he is picked for the later Tests of the Australia tour' date=' it is a short term risk worth taking.[/quote'] :omg: Munaf Grandpa Patel who has the worst possible attitude should not be let anywhere near the Indian team Aus will eat him alive (maybe that is a good short term loss we should take to once and for all expose this idjet)

[msb1991]

:omg: Munaf Grandpa Patel who has the worst possible attitude should not be let anywhere near the Indian team Aus will eat him alive (maybe that is a good short term loss we should take to once and for all expose this idjet)

He is the Indian bowler who clocks the highest speed gun readings (130-142kph) and bowls a natural 'short of a length' length with a high arm action. He is the ideal bowler to bowl in Australia.

[theguyinallblue]

Curious case of Missing Munaf

Curious case of the missing Munaf On Wednesday, even as India's pacemen wilted under an Aussie onslaught in the morning session, people here were talking about the continual Munaf Patel mystery. What exactly is the man who was once dubbed India's fastest bowler up to? Whose advice is the Indian paceman taking? Why is he periodically disappearing into Ikhar, his hometown in Gujarat's Bharuch district, and refusing to get in touch with anyone from the outside world for days on end? And finally, if he is a rare, precious find for India and unable to come to terms with that and the fame factor, why is no one sitting him down and explaining the facts of the cricketing life to him? When the selection committee met to pick up the squad for the Australia Tests, they chose 16 players, with the understanding that they would probably send Munaf here after the second Test, once he had proved his fitness in the interim by playing Ranji games. But then, bizarrely, just after he wasn't picked, Munaf disappeared. Maharashtra Cricket Association president Ajay Shirke had admitted to Hindustan Times a few days ago that the state association gave up on Munaf after a week of trying to trace him. "He was supposed to join the team for the match against Saurashtra (in Nagothane from December 17-20). Our chairman of selectors (Pandurang Salgaokar) was trying to call him up for over a week, but Munaf just didn't respond. The least he could have done was to call back or send an SMS to any of the team management members. But he didn't. We had to drop him for the last league game," Shirke had told the Hindustan Times. Munaf finally got in touch with the MCA after he was dropped, apparently on "disciplinary grounds", but was told it was too late to play. According to sources, Munaf, insecure, unsure of himself and uncomfortable in a world vastly different from the one he is used to, runs back to his village at every available opportunity to hide and heal himself in his head every time he feels done in. "He (Munaf) has received bad advice from people close to him, leading him to take his India place for granted. But he has realised that things are at crisis point now and he has kept in touch with a selector finally over these past five days," said a source in the Munaf camp. But the selectors are deeply unhappy with what they see as an "attitude problem" with the paceman. "How are we supposed to trust an India berth to a man who himself does not have a clue what he is up to?" a national selector told HT from India. "He is more or less incommunicado at will and we cannot be expected to tolerate that." Another selector said that they were not sure if they would send a 17th player at all now, though added that a final call would be taken only after the Sydney Test. "We wanted to send a paceman, specifically Munaf really, but now that idea might not make sense. Munaf now has to play the Duleep Trophy later in January and then we'll take a call on what to do with him. Let's see what we do." There were reports on Wednesday that the Indian team management had sent an SOS to Munaf. These were emphatically denied by BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah and, later, by Indian team sources themselves. Whatever the truth, this is another Indian cricketing chapter that really shows nobody in good light. However, if Munaf matters that much, it's high time someone took him in hand and made him understand the importance of being Munaf.

SOURCE: http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=07be68ff-dd53-4563-b654-1fa7d18129cd&MatchID1=4627&TeamID1=1&TeamID2=6&MatchType1=1&SeriesID1=1165&PrimaryID=4627&IsCricket=true&Headline=Curious+case+of+the+missing+Munaf

[Mr. Wicket]

Can we have a source for the article?

[theguyinallblue]

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=07be68ff-dd53-4563-b654-1fa7d18129cd&MatchID1=4627&TeamID1=1&TeamID2=6&MatchType1=1&SeriesID1=1165&PrimaryID=4627&IsCricket=true&Headline=Curious+case+of+the+missing+Munaf

[beetle]

He needs a shrink ASAP!

[Gambit]

He must be in an old age home somewhere regaling fellow oldies with tales of how fast he used to bowl back in the day.