BCCI wants Gloster to come clean on Munaf's injury |
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Thursday December 28, 02:03 AM
THE INDIAN cricket board has lost patience with John Gloster's dilly-dallying over Munaf Patel's left ankle injury. They have written to the team physio asking him for his "final assessment" of the Indian fast bowler. If the response is in the negative, the BCCI may ask Munaf to return home from South Africa.
"For over a month now, John Gloster has been saying that Munaf will recover in five or six days," BCCI chief administrative officer Prof Ratnakar Shetty told HT on Wednesday. "He has been reiterating the same every week since then. We are expecting the final report from him in a day or two." Munaf got injured during the second One-day International against South Africa in Durban on November 22. The Maharashtra paceman has bowled only eight overs in a competitive game since.
Both the Indian team management and Gloster have been saying that Munaf will recover 'soon'. After bowling those eight overs - well below his best - in a warm-up match against a KwaZulu-Natal Invitation XI prior to the second Test, Munaf was even named in the twelve for the second Test on Monday. However, he didn't play. Indian skipper Rahul Dravid said after the first day's play in Durban on Tuesday: "Munaf wasn't considered because we weren't 100 per cent certain that he'd last a Test match. He bowled eight overs in that match the other day, and was bowling about six or seven overs in practice, but the intensity is totally different. He was probably two or three days away from what would be ideal for a Test match."
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