The inconsistency of Munaf Patel

His first ball was a leg-side wide; his first over cost 15 runs; he had to bowl in four spurts to finish his spell and his figures read 10-0-81-1. Like a rabbit caught in the headlights, Munaf Patel was a rattled soul during India Green's Challenger Trophy match against India Red at Motera.

Just a few weeks ago, Munaf was one of the chief architects of Rest of India's Irani Trophy victory against Mumbai. But his reliability had still come into question as the second innings five-wicket haul had been preceded by a listless first-innings performance.

Munaf is quite like Indian domestic flights which always promise that they will be 'on time' but end up making you wait frustratingly long. He recently said that he was not bothered with speed, but to bowl at 130 km/hr you either need to be a McGrath or a Pollock or the batsmen need to be club-class. True, the surface at Motera was slow because of the moisture in a pitch that had been over-watered ahead of the tournament. But Pankaj Singh, the tall and broad-shouldered Rajasthan youngster, was getting the ball to move at a good speed, in comparison to Munaf's rudderless act.

At the start of the match, Parthiv Patel, the India Green captain, must have had high hopes from his senior-most fast bowler, but half-way through it he was busy shuffling around the bowling as the Reds batsmen piled on runs due to Munaf's lack of pace, movement and control. Patel, though disappointed with the bowling performance and the 88-run loss, came out in support of his senior bowler. He said: "It was not his day today and hopefully he will bounce back tomorrow."

When Munaf entered international cricket, he was considered exceptional because of his pace. Today, his value has plummeted simply due to a lack of it. For a fast bowler, pace is mandatory. If today, Sreesanth is allowed an extended run, it's only because he has not given up on pace even when it proves expensive.

There are voices now gathering force that in the interest of Indian fast bowling and of Munaf, the selectors should only pick him for Tests. In one-day cricket, the need to come up with variations is paramount. Speaking to a Sunday paper recently, Patel had said "All I think of these days is about whom I am, where I have come from, and where I need to go. That's all." Munaf's choices aren't too many: either he must reinvent himself or go back to where he started.

Perhaps it's too harsh an opinion based on one performance, but his limited-overs graph has been in freefall for a while now. Inconsistency won't improve his case for selection.