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[justforkix]

So, Red is thru to the finals and it is between Green and Blue now tomorrow in a virtual semi-final.

[poondu]

Kaif is a selfish idiot. He has no hope of batting #3 in the Indian team. He should be sending Badri ahead of him.

I agree , Kaif is selfish , he has no right to come at #3 and now the creep is bowling also.

[gouravk]

Talkin of rights to come in at #3, if VVS happens to be captain will he put himself in at his favorite No. 3 spot ?

[LosingNow]

WOW. Praveen Kumar gets a 5fer!!!!

[WicketView]

I think the best fit for Kaif is No 3. I really don't think he is a good No 5-6 batsman. Now, of course, there might be better No 3s.

 About Badri starting slowly, I remember in one of the India A tests he started out hitting a 6 an a four. pretty quickly.

[LosingNow]

I totally agree with CI's assessment.. I have not seen a more insipid, uninspired performance.. it totally lacked effort and energy.

..and one thought AA was an enigma.

Someone should take this guy under his wings and nurture him. Otherwise, we will lose his immense talent.. he really is a "villager lost in the city" (no offense meant for villagers or city-people).

--
The inconsistency of Munaf Patel

Nagraj Gollapudi in Ahmedabad

October 26, 2007


 
Munaf Patel has not managed to substitute his lack of pace with accuracy © Cricinfo Ltd
 
 

His first ball was a leg-side wide; His first over cost 15 runs; He had to bowl in four spurts to finish his spell and his figures read 10-0-81-1. Like a rabbit caught in the tailights, Munaf Patel was a rattled soul during India Green's Challenger Trophy match against India Red at Motera.

Just a few weeks back Munaf was one of the chief architects of Rest of India's Irani Trophy victory against Mumbai. But his reliability came into question as a second innings five-wicket haul had been preceded by a listless first innings performance. Munaf is quite like Indian domestic flights which promise they will always be 'on time' but end up making you wait frustratingly long.

Munaf recently said he was not bothered with speed, but to bowl at 130kph you either need to be a McGrath or a Pollock or the batsmen need to club-class. True, the surface at Motera was slow because of the moisture in the pitch that had been over-watered ahead of the tournament. But Pankaj Singh, the tall and broad-shouldered Rajasthan youngster, was getting the ball to move at a good speed, in comparison to Munaf's rudderless act.

At the start of the match Parthiv Patel, the India Green captain, must have had high hopes from his senior-most fast bowler, but half-way through it he was busy shuffling around the bowling as the Reds batsmen piled on runs due to Munaf's lack of pace, movement and control. Patel, though disappointed with the bowling performance and the 88-run loss, came in support of his senior bowler. He said: "It was not his day today and hopefully he would bounce back tomorrow."

When Munaf entered international cricket he was considered a premium bowler because of his pace. Today his value has plummeted simply due to a lack of any genuine pace. For a fast bowler, pace is mandatory. If today Sreesanth is allowed an extended liberty it's because he has not given up on pace even when it proves expensive.

There are voices now gathering force that in the interest of Indian fast bowling and of Munaf, the selectors should only pick him for Tests. In one-day cricket the need to come up with variations has become mandatory. Speaking to a Sunday paper recently Patel had said "All I think of these days is about whom I am, where I have come from, and where I need to go. That's all." Munaf's choices aren't too many: either he must re-invent himself or go back to where he started.

Perhaps it's too harsh an opinion based on one performance, but his 25-game ODI graph has been on the free-diving spree for a while now and his inconsistency is not improving his case for selection.

Nagraj Gollapudi is an assistant editor at Cricinfo

[Vick]

I dont know when Munna bowled above 140 KMPH regularly. Accept for his first series against England i have mostly seen him operating around 135 at Max.

[gouravk]

munaf patel is the biggest disappointment for me in recent times.