da dobrowin： Unchanged squad for Mumbai
da poker： Dileep Premachandran in Mohali13-Mar-2006
Kiran More feels Munaf Patel has made big strides as a bowler © Getty Images
After India had coasted to a nine-wicket triumph on the back of somesuperb bowling from Anil Kumble and Munaf Patel, the selection committeewere in a predictably conservative mood, announcing an unchanged squad for the Mumbai Test. Kiran More, who addressed the post-selection pressconference, could be forgiven a satisfied smile or two as he held forth onMunaf, Piyush Chawla and the possibility of India sticking to thefive-bowler strategy in the final game.When asked if the committee was pleased at the gamble on Munaf paying off,More said: “He’s an outstanding cricketer, who’s picked up 88 first-classwickets in the last couple of seasons. We just felt that he needed morematch practice. I know the area that he comes from [Ikhar], close toBharuch. He always had the pace, but didn’t have a second option. Now heknows which areas to bowl, and he bowls yorkers and inswingers. There’sbeen a great improvement in his bowling.”Munaf had his opportunity after S Sreesanth was ruled out due to fever,and More admitted that the team had a few worries in the pace department, with RP Singh also having impressed on the tour of Pakistan. “We look for the guys who are in the best form,” said More. “Sree had a fever before this game, and we couldn’t risk him breaking down, so that gave a chance to Munaf. We want the best guys playing in theteam. RP bowled very well in Pakistan, and a time will come when he playstoo. We need six to eight fast bowlers so that there’s always back-up.”More was also pleased with Chawla’s first outing, despite being restricted to just 14.1 overs and the wicket of Andrew Flintoff. “He’s taken 40wickets this season and we think he’s ready. He just didn’t get enoughspells in this game. The seniors [Kumble and Harbhajan] bowledmagnificently, but we were very impressed with Piyush. If we hadn’t losttwo days to rain, he would have had more chances to bowl.”More, however, was less forthcoming on the five-bowler theory. “When weplay five, it gives the captain options, and gives us more chances ofwinning,” he said. “But it’s not necessary that we will do it for everyTest. We’ll look at the pitch and decide.”He also brushed aside talk that the spin cupboard was as bare as the paceone appears full. “We did discuss Ramesh Powar. Harbhajan is there too. Hebowled very well in this match. There is also Pragyan Ojha and Amit Mishra. When they’re given chances at this level, we’ll know where they stand.”Both Vikram Raj Vir Singh, the Punjab pace bowler, and Abid Nabi, fromKashmir, had bowled in the Indian nets here, and More emphasised the needto groom talent for the future. “VRV is a local and we called him fornets,” he said. “He looked in excellent shape. We also wanted to see Nabi.I had never seen him before, though some of the other selectors had. Wewanted to assess his fitness and give him the guidance of the supportstaff. It’s important that we groom young prospects.”Squad – Rahul Dravid (capt), Virender Sehwag, Wasim Jaffer, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), Irfan Pathan, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, S Sreesanth, Munaf Patel, Rudra Pratap Singh, Piyush Chawla
