BANGALORE (SEPT 4):Sheer pace of rival bowlers has tormented Indian batsmen for a long time now.

But this may soon be history as a pacer, who can compete with the likes of Brett Lee and Shoaib Akhtar for speed, is set to unleash his thunderbolts at the probables camp here.

Rated as the country's fastest bowler by pace guru Dennis Lillee, 20-year-old Munaf Patel would not only hone his skills but also warmup the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid ahead of India's new season.

The paceman from Ikhar village of Bharuch district is yet to make his Ranji debut but has been selected by the BCCI as one of the nine fast bowlers to provide practice to batsmen.

From a rustic boy, who dropped out of school while in the 10th standard in a nondescript village in Gujarat, the passionate cricketer has come a long way after ignoring his parents' advice that "cricket will not take you anywhere. Don't play the game".

The tall boy's hard work paid off years later when pace legend Lillee spotted him. The Australian rates Patel high and puts him as India's fastest -- Patel clocked over 140 kmph recently.

Impressed, Lillee gave him a few tips, like he does for those having a stint at the MRF pace academy at Chennai.

"I feel very good and honoured by Lillee sir's comment," Patel told PTI here.

Born into a family of peasants, the six feet-three inch unassuming Patel said he started playing cricket in villages and then at the district level and finally made the grade to play for Baroda u-25 side.

"My parents know nothing about cricket. Whenever there used to be matches in the village, they used to turn up only to go back. They used to ask, where will cricket take you? Don't play the game," Patel said.

Patel studied only till 10th standard and did not go to college as "the family position was not good". "One needed to take care of the family also," said Patel, who has three sisters.

"But I persisted," he said giving a lot of credit to former India stumper Kiran More for encouraging him and advising to him to have a stint at MRF Pace Foundation.

Patel also had a month-long stint at the National Cricket Academy here, where he picked up a few tips from Venkatesh Prasad.

He said the tips by Lillee had helped him develop more swing into his bowling, as well as increase the pace.

Patel, who surprisingly does not idolise any bowler, loves to watch genuine pace bowlers in action and tries to incorporate the good points.

Since his bowling has "less of swing and more of pace" he specially likes to watch Shoaib Akhtar, Brett Lee, Zaheer Khan and Shane Bond, Patel said.

Patel has played in under-25 Gujarat side against Sourashtra and picked up 16 wickets from four matches.

The Gujarati said his goal was to play for India and to have a long stint with the national side.

"I don't want to play one or two matches for India and then lose my place," he said.




Link:
http://autofeed.msn.co.in/pandoraV15/output/22926654-2CA8-4E81-B733-70362061B606.asp

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A Proud Indian Canadian

Munaf Patel - India's fastest bowler
By: Mufeed Rizvi
September 7, 2003
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Ikhar (Bharuch): On Friday night, around 10-15 villagers in the vicinity of Palej sat before their television sets to witness what they had demanded from the local cable operator: A re-run of the match between Golden Cricket Club and Rambo Cricket Club starring local sensation Munaf Mirza better known as Munaf Patel aka Munna.

Though Munaf has yet to get a feel of first-class cricket, he is touted as a pace hope.

No sooner did Australian fast bowling great Dennis Lillee declare that Munaf was the fastest bowler in India, news spread like wild fire. The local cable operator Daud Bhol’s office was flooded with calls from Ikhar and its surroundings demanding the highlights of the match.

Ironically, the match was hardly an ode to Munaf’s bowling abilities. Last season’s match was all about his batting. Needing 274 to win with Golden CC struggling at 23 for two, Munaf walked in and slammed a 40-ball century that included seven sixes, guiding his team to an exciting and unbelievable win.

‘‘In Ikhar, he is known more for his batting. We knew he was a good batsman but being called for the India camp for his bowling was a big surprise,’’ says Dr Maqsood Patel, a family friend.

His ancestral house on Mirza Street was flooded with friends and well-wishers and all had a tale or two. ‘‘He is our pride. Not only Ikhar but the entire district is proud of Munna,’’ declares Abdul Samad, who runs a provision store in the village.

Abdul doubles up as commentator for the popular Abdul Balu Memorial tournament on the village grounds.

“During a local tournament, Baroda’s former pacer Dhansukh Patel was impressed with Munaf,” Samad recalls. “He was then called to Baroda to display his talent before national selector Kiran More. From then, he has always been out of the house.’’

Munaf’s passion for the game convinced village elders he was on to something big. As for his father Musa Patel, a farmer, it held no significance. ‘‘What’s the use of showing off here in the village? Go out if you want to be something,’’ Musa would say. He refused to watch his son in action in the village park.

‘‘I knew nothing about them (Shoaib Akhtar or Brett Lee) until a week ago. Now I know what my son is worth.’’ said a shy Musa, after being chased to his friend’s place. Although words failed him repeatedly, his expressions spoke of joy.

His mother Saeeda and sister Noorjahan preferred to stay mum. ‘‘I feel nice,’’ she mumbles, scurrying off to finish some chores.

‘‘When he was a child, I bought him a bat and would play with him in the compound. I never forced him into anything. It was his decision to do what he wanted to,’’ an excited Musa says, in broken Hindi and solid Gujarati.

Musa claims at first he didn’t even know his son was in Bangalore training with the Sachin Tendulkars and Sourav Gangulys of this world. ‘‘He called me to say he had been sent to the MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai and is currently training with the Indian team in Bangalore. It came as a surprise to me,’’ he says.

Incidentally, Munaf called home on Saturday to tell his family that he had bowled to his heroes Ganguly and Rahul Dravid. The India skipper told him to keep bowling fast without bothering too much about movement.

His captain and close friend Haroon Handi, who has supported him financially, says he should get a chance in the Test side first. ‘‘He has the ability to bowl 25 overs on the trot with consistent speed. He can bowl on any pitch in the world.

“Ironically, he is not an ardent cricket-watcher. He’d prefer to play than to watch a match on television,’’ Handi says.

‘‘He is an iron wall when it comes to fielding. Batsmen here rarely get the ball past him.” Handi is the only village batsman brave enough to face him in the nets. “An aggressive Munaf can be dangerous if he is hit for a boundary even in the nets,” Handi says.

Villagers claim there are two people involved in giving Munaf a lift — Ismailbhai and Mahdibhai, both of whom were not in the village. Ismailbhai is in London while Mahdibhai is in Baroda.

Of course, former India wicketkeeper Kiran More was helpful in sending him to Bangalore.

Legend has it that a plot of land in the centre of the village was left vacant exclusively for cricket. Two hundred years later, Munna’s broad shoulders are carrying their dreams.

‘I stopped playing the day I got hit’

Sarfaraz Patel is one Munaf’s victims - proud and happy for his tormentor.

Last year, Sarfaraz’s family spent Rs 30,000 on medication and surgery after he was hit on the face by a fierce rising delivery.
Mention the word cricket and he looks around. Only in Munaf’s absence does Sarfaraz pick up the bat to join the nets occasionally.

"I stopped playing cricket the day I got hit by Munaf. He is dangerous," he says.

Sarfaraz recalls the incident: "I was playing him well when I drove one through the covers. It was more of a reflex shot than intentional. The next ball was a short one that rose sharply and I missed it completely. It hit my face and I was down the next minute with a fractured cheekbone. It took me couple of months and Rs 30,000 to recover."

Will he play cricket again? "No".
























‘Definitely the quickest’

Take a confirmation from the man who knows it best: “Yes, Munaf is definitely the fastest in India at the moment." That, by the way, was T A Sekhar, chief coach of the Chennai-based MRF Pace Foundation — better known as the nursery for young pace aces.

And his statement was about the newest ace in the pack: Munaf Patel, who clocks between 145-150 kmph.

“He has to be the quickest. He is genuinely fast. Recently Steve Waugh was at the academy and Munaf was bowling to the Aussie in the nets. He had even the great Steve Waugh jumping all over!” Sekhar said about his ward from Chennai yesterday. “At the end of it Steve Waugh admitted, ‘India seems to be going the right way to get fast bowlers’.”

What impresses Sekhar about the young Gujarat pacer is his attitude, coupled with his physique — the two most important ingredients for any cricketer, but more so for a quick bowler.

“Munaf is very strong fellow physically and is very, very tough mentally. The fact that he comes from an average family and his hunger to make it at the highest level will only add to his strengths.”
So how did Patel land at the Foundation?

“He was referred to us last year by Kiran More (the former India and Baroda stumper and currently a national selector).
“Munaf has been with us for about a year now and has really developed,” Sekhar said. “Dennis Lillee advised a few technical changes for him but didn’t need to do much because his basics are quite correct.

“We have put him under specific training regimen and he will be sent to Australia next March (for further training).”

Though it’s still early days for the boy from Bharuch — who was drafted in for the second leg of the Indian team's preparatory camp, which started in Bangalore on Monday — Sekhar has faith.

“He may get a chance for Rest of India or one of the practice matches against the New Zealanders. Munaf took up cricket only about a couple of years back. He had never played the game before.

So he should be groomed properly and needs to do a lot of fitness training.

“But I’m relishing the prospect of watching India fire with Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra and Munaf Patel!” Sekhar added.

- Shantanu Datta




Link:
http://www.chalomumbai.com/sports/national/2003/september/63283.htm

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A Proud Indian Canadian

HELLO !
I m happy to listen about fastest bowler.... thatwat india need,150 speed. but none of the media has his photo..i read all online news papers..but only times has that but its not real... its hand drawn...
anybody has idea about photo of munaf patel??? i wanna see this 6.4 hight bowler..
bye

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Special Requests: Please call me after 5:30 because I am self-employed and my employer does not know I am looking for another job

http://ww1.mid-day.com/sports/national/2003/october/65304.htm

Guys, speed is not the criterion for a good fast bowler. I remember Wasim Akram, when he was in his teens was a very fast bowler.
BUt look at his career. He shortened his run-up and changed his style..and developed that inswinging yorker...
That separates him from others ! It was great to watch him bowl..
The only sad thing "he is from the OTHER side"

Munaaf, Zaheer, Irfan ! Looks like Karnataka / Bombay dominates Batting while Gujrat dominates Bowling !

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