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Indian cricket has produced a good crop of fast bowlers of late. But, it was not the case 10-15 years before. Express pace was hard to come by, consistency was even harder to find. Gujarat-born Munaf Patel was a mixed bag of sorts. Early in his career, his raw pace made jaws drop and got heads turning. He did not have a long career but certainly an impactful one.
Raw pace
Munaf After impressing many with his pace, he caught Kiran More's eye and was sent to the MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai. The young pacer trained under legendary Australian fast bowler Dennis Lillee and former Indian pacer TA Sekhar. Munaf continued to impress and made his First-Class debut for Mumbai instead of Gujarat after Sachin Tendulkar's recommendation.
Debut
In 2006, Munaf made his international debut and picked up a record seven-wicket haul in Test against England. While it was clear that the Gujarat pacer had talent, injuries prevented him from being a regular in any format of the game.
Dream World Cup campaign
Being part of a World Cup-winning team is on top of every cricketer's wishlist. Munaf got his chance when swing bowler Praveen Kumar got injured. The skillful pacer made the most of the biggest opportunity of his life and picked up 11 wickets in the tournament. He finished as India's third-highest wicket-taker in the World Cup-winning campaign.
He played a huge role in India's semi-final win against Pakistan, picking up two wickets from 40 runs in his quota of 10 overs including two maidens. He got the key wickets of opener Mohammad Hafeez and all-rounder Abdul Razzaq. In the final, he did not take a wicket but did not leak many boundaries.
Despite top-notch performances in the World Cup, Munaf played two more ODI series before he was dropped later in the year. After lacklustre performances against England he could not make it back to the Indian squad.
Munaf’s career in numbers
The 39-year-old played 13 Tests, 70 ODIs and three T20Is for India taking 35, 86 and four wickets respectively. Munaf continued to play First-Class cricket till 2016. He has 231 wickets from 69 First-Class appearances.
