Munaf Patel

Munaf Patel

India

Full name Munaf Musa Patel
Born July 12, 1983, Ikhar, Gujarat
Current age 23 years 231 days
Major teams India, Gujarat, Indian Board President's XI, Reebok XI
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm medium-fast

Statsguru

Batting and fielding averages

	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	4s	6s	Ct	St
Tests	7	9	3	32	13	5.33	102	31.37	0	0	3	1	4	0
ODIs	17	7	5	6	2*	3.00	16	37.50	0	0	0	0	1	0
First-class	31	36	10	385	78	14.80			0	1			9	0
List A	46	15	8	73	28	10.42			0	0			7	0

Bowling averages

	Mat	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4	5	10
Tests	7	1500	725	25	4/25	7/97	29.00	2.90	60.00	1	0	0
ODIs	17	814	631	22	4/49	4/49	28.68	4.65	37.00	1	0	0
First-class	31	5634	2580	113	6/50		22.83	2.74	49.85	5	4	1
List A	46	2161	1570	59	4/49	4/49	26.61	4.35	36.62	1	0	0

Career statistics
Test debut	India v England at Mohali - Mar 9-13, 2006
Last Test	South Africa v India at Cape Town - Jan 2-6, 2007
ODI debut	India v England at Margao - Apr 3, 2006
Last ODI	India v Sri Lanka at Margao - Feb 14, 2007
First-class span	2003/04 - 2006/07
List A span	2003/04 - 2006/07

Profile

Few medium-pacers had generated as much hype before bowling a ball in first-class, let alone international cricket as Munaf Musa Patel, the young boy from the little town of Ikhar in Bahruch, Gujarat did in early 2003. Kiran More, now chairman of selectors, had seen him bowl in the nets and sent him straight to the MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai to train under TA Sekhar and Dennis Lillee. Soon he was being hailed as the fastest man in Indian cricket. Then, even as Baroda and Gujarat vied for his services, Patel chose Mumbai, after Sachin Tendulkar had taken special interest in him and had a word with the authorities in the Mumbai Cricket Association. Even then Patel's first-class career was anything but smooth as he spent more time recovering from various injuries than actually playing.

Strongly built though not overly tall, a wild mane flowing behind him as he bustles up to the bowling crease, gathering momentum before releasing the ball with a windmill-whirl of hands, Patel's priority is to bowl quick. And it was this that first caught the eye about three years ago. Now he has added reverse swing to his repertoire and has troubled batsmen with a well-directed yorker. After plenty of speculation and close calls he finally received a call from the national selection panel for the second Test against England in March 2006, after an impressive performance for the Board President's XI saw him pick up 10 English wickets for 91 runs. Things just got better a couple of weeks later against England at Mohali when he ended with 7 for 97, the best performance by an Indian fast bowler on Test debut. A consistent series against West Indies later that year meant he had established himself as a regular member of the side.