Munaf Patel’s fitness fiasco in South Africa has made the chairman of national selectors Dilip Vengsarkar wary. Though the pacer looked impressive at his fitness trial at Team India’s net session here today, Vengsarkar opts to take a wait and watch approach. The former captain informed that though Munaf has been cleared by the BCCI doctor Anant Joshi and the team physio John Gloster, it is the pacer who will have to take the final call. “Before every match he plays, Munaf will be asked to take a call. Even if he expresses the mildest of reservation, we won’t play him. Even in South Africa, he was cleared by everyone and later we come to know that he wasn’t comfortable while bowling, so we don’t want to take any chances,” said Vengsarkar talking to The Indian Express. Referring to the last Test against South Africa at Cape Town, Vengsarkar said: “We were virtually a bowler short in the series-deciding Test as Munaf struggled.” Post South Africa, Munaf’s ankle injury gave BCCI a big headache and the decision makers concluded that the “player hid his injury before the Test”.When asked if Munaf was impressive during the fitness trial, Vengsarkar was guarded in his views. “Bowling in a match situation with all the pressures is different from bowling at nets,” he says.
