Farm to Fame

For them, Munaf is a hero not just because he8217;s a debutant Test cricketer 8212; he also symbolises what a small-town boy can grab if he hungers enough.

Yet he almost didn8217;t make it to cricket. 8216;8216;His father had decided to pack him off to Africa8217;8217;, says Javed 8216;Khairoo8217; Ghanchi 21, the Patels8217; neighbour on Mirza Street, a relatively plush area with concrete roads and neat ground-plus-one houses. 8216;8216;Mirza-ji Munaf8217;s father had even sold a chunk of his 20-acre zameen to send him there.8217;8217;

Ghanchi, Munaf8217;s close friend, would know. Every family in predominantly Muslim Ikhar has at least one son living in Zambia, Nigeria or somewhere in the United Kingdom, sending expatriate earnings home to supplement the income from the cotton farm.

And Munaf, Ghanchi says, 8216;8216;has never worked on his farm8217;8217;. Instead, he was the carefree sort 8212; even at cricket, which the other villagers would play with a passion once the cotton fields had been tended to.

8216;8216;That8217;s because he was a genius with the bat8217;8217;, says Dr Maqsood Patel, physician to Munaf and the entire village. 8216;8216;He has three centuries to his credit.8217;8217;

Another friend, Siraj Chhadat, adds: 8216;8216;And all of them scored at a strike rate of over 100, mind you.8217;8217; There8217;s even talk of his volleyball prowess, especially smashing.

It was at one such post-namaaz outing, on the uneven muddy field that passes off as a cricket pitch, that Haroon Handi noticed how Munaf8217;s unusual speed could rattle batsmen. 8216;8216;He was a bit reluctant initially, but eventually joined us8217;8217;, says Handi, skipper of the local Golden Cricket Club and Ikhar8217;s first cricketer to go pro. Soon, Handi and Munaf would travel all around mofussil Gujarat, playing tournaments.

His commitment to the club was total, his affable nature a bonus. 8216;8216;He always bowled fast, but he8217;s much more attractive now8217;8217;, says Handi, who8217;s been watching the Mohali Test with the same irritation that the rest of Ikhar felt at every fresh shower.

Having bowled over Ikhar and adjoining Bharuch, the duo came in contact with Ismail Matadar, known as the Kerry Packer of Bharuch for the many sparks of talent he has spotted and captured for various Gujarati teams.

Matadar was so impressed with Patel that he gave him an opportunity to play for the Baroda Cricket Association8217;s colts8217; team in 1999. That8217;s where Kiran More spotted him and referred him straightaway to Chennai8217;s MRF Pace Foundation.

Just months later, Munaf was calling his parents from Chennai, mentioning how someone called Dennis Lillee had just pronounced him India8217;s fastest bowler.

Back home, the reaction was one of incredulity. 8216;8216;He told me he was being trained by former selector TA Sekar8217;8217;, says Musa Mirza, a cotton farmer. 8216;8216;And that he8217;d be training with the national team. Can you imagine?8217;8217; As word spread through Ikhar, people began flocking to the Mirzas8217; ancestral house.

Just as they are today. And, indeed, have been all these days. 8216;8216;They Munaf and Handi were very popular around here. Even people from adjoining villages would come visiting,8221; says Ilyas Deca, Munaf8217;s uncle.

Handi says locals would discuss everything about Munaf: fitness regime, diet, training schedule, nutrition supplement. 8216;8216;Munaf didn8217;t have any of this growing up but he could bowl 16 overs at the same speed, on the trot8217;8217;, Handi recalls.

The youngster may have lost some speed but is certainly more 8220;polished8221; and 8220;rhythmic8221; now. 8220;He used to bowl side-arm, more like the Sri Lankan Malinga. Now he has a much straighter action.8221;

With three wickets and his first Test still underway, the villagers are getting ready for celebrations. 8220;Dua karo,8221; says Mirza, beaming brighter than Ikhar8217;s streetlights.