da dobrowin： Munaf, who picked up 2 for 25 from seven overs, nailing Upul Tharanga andMahela Jayawardene, came in for praise from Rahul Dravidwho addressed a brief press conference shortly after play was called offjust after 8.30pm
Anand Vasu in Kolkata08-Feb-2007
‘It was most heartening to see him come back sostrongly after a long injury lay-off’ – Rahul Dravid was all praise for Munaf Patel © Getty Images
In the short period where play was possible there was one big gain forIndia as Munaf Patel, recovering from an injury to the ankle of hislanding foot, bowled seven overs without any obvious discomfort. What’smore, he was easily the most effective of the bowlers on display, gettingmovement in the air and hitting the right areas, troubling batsmen.Munaf, who picked up 2 for 25 from seven overs, nailing Upul Tharanga andMahela Jayawardene, came in for praise from Rahul Dravidwho addressed a brief press conference shortly after play was called offjust after 8.30pm. “Munaf bowled extremely well today and I amdelighted,” Dravid said, soon after walking off the field where heinspected conditions along with umpires Simon Taufel and Suresh Shastri,and Jayawardene. “He hit the right areas, the right line and lengthstraight from the word go. It was most heartening to see him come back sostrongly after a long injury lay-off. With the amount of cricket that liesahead of us, that is a very encouraging sign.”But while Patel’s return to full bowling fitness was a high note forIndia, their two other mediumpacers were distinctly off colour. ZaheerKhan went for 32 in his five overs and S Sreesanth was even more expensiveconceding 36 in 4.2 overs. “It was a very good batting track,” Dravidsaid. “All credit to Sanath Jayasuriya for the way he batted in favourableconditions. In the end, we did very well to pick up three wickets.”When asked about the abandonment of the match Dravid’s answer was alongexpected lines. “It was most disappointing that the game had to endindecisively. The ground authorities did a great job to try and get theground ready for play, but the conditions were not good enough for play tocontinue,” said Dravid, who appeared to slip on a wet patch just near thepractice pitches when he went out for the final inspection. “I do feel forthe huge crowd, but there was no option but to abandon the match.”