The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Munaf gets the nod

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Monday, Mar 06, 2006

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Sport - Cricket

Munaf gets the nod

Sports Reporter

Nagpur: The BCCI selectors have included uncapped 22-year-old fast-bowler Munaf Patel and Yuvraj Singh, who returns after recovering from a torn hamstring, in the 15-man squad for the second Test scheduled to begin in Mohali on March 9.

Munaf, who took 10 wickets to help Board President's XI defeat England in the tour match, replaces V.R.V. Singh, while Yuvraj — who was in sublime touch in Pakistan — comes in place of Suresh Raina.

Kiran More, chairman of the selection committee, said the young Raina was part of the plans for the future and that he was "an outstanding talent", but "we had to pick Yuvraj".

When asked if it was fair to dump Singh without giving him a chance More said, "we wanted to give VRV a taste of Test cricket and assess his fitness. He has not played much and we want him to go back and play domestic cricket. Munaf has been in great form, and the reports from the Deodhar Trophy have been outstanding."

More also praised Jaffer's performance, and when asked about the "other opener" (Sehwag) said he was "one of the best in the world". He said the selectors hadn't discussed other spin options.

The team: Rahul Dravid (captain), Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, V.V.S. Laxman, Wasim Jaffer, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, M.S. Dhoni, Irfan Pathan, R.P. Singh, S. Sreesanth, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Piyush Chawla, Munaf Patel.

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