At Motera, Munaf’s home debut moment: ‘can I have a picture?’

The local officialdom in Munaf Patel's home state of Gujarat has put the lanky fast bowler in a spot at times.

Now, as he gets ready for Thursday’s Champions Trophy game against West Indies at Motera — his first in his home state — fellow players and local officials walked down memory lane with the star, who was once their own but has now drifted away.

Rajeev Desai, Munaf's Under-22 coach, recalls: “I always thought he would play for India. People say he was raw initially but he was a finished product. His run-up was flawless, if you talk about pace, it was higher then.”

A few old friends recall Munaf's initial spells - some even teased him, saying he would never play for India - but all's well that ends well. And, thankfully, today's professional Munaf is no different from the amateur of those early days.

Read on in The Indian Express.