He really doesn’t care whether his t-shirt is tucked in or not, nor does he bother about his oversized stubble; Munaf Patel always wants to keep it simple, but his happy-go-lucky attitude hasn’t passed muster with disciplinarians in the cricketing circle. His fielding and fitness have made him a sustained subject of scrutiny, but Munaf is not breaking sweat over it.In a chat with The Indian Express after practice at the SCG nets, the lanky Maharashtra seamer said he was feeling better than ever with his international comeback and said his bowling gave him greater confidence to once again get into reckoning with the speed gun. “I’ve just made a comeback into the team after battling from injuries previously and I am steadily getting there. For me to bowl fast again is not a problem, I can again crack the 140s easily. Woh to mera natural cheez hai, who kaise chhutega? Tez toh mein waapas dalunga. I don’t want to rush into the speed race straightaway,” he says.It must be strange for Munaf, billed as the fastest Indian bowler, to remain in a pack of pace bowlers who aren’t really that quick — like Irfan Pathan — while young guns Ishant Sharma and Sreesanth are targetting greater pace. “I don’t feel bad about myself, I know what my body is telling me and what role has been defined for me in the team. But I feel happy for them and just tell them that I will be there to challenge them very soon,” he says.Today he got Sachin Tendulkar out in the nets and constantly probed him with an off-stump line. It was a big surprise when MS Dhoni named Munaf in the team, and Munaf responded with two economical spells.“I am very happy with this tour has shaped up for me and obviously I am very excited to get back into the XI and play international cricket again. There was never an issue about my bowling, it was my fitness, and now that I am fit everything else is sorted.” Munaf knows that he has been criticised but he’s planned to ignore every such thing and look ahead. Simple man, simple thoughts— Munaf.
