Medium-pacer Munaf Patel will join the Indian team for the tri-series currently under way here.
The 27-year-old Patel was a part of the Test squad though he didn’t play in any of the three matches. Not originally picked in the Test party, he was flown out as replacement once S Sreesanth was ruled out with a knee injury, not long after the team arrived in Sri Lanka.
Patel left for India immediately after the conclusion of the final Test last Saturday after not being named in the original 15-man party for the triangular series.
His induction as a reinforcement, and not as a replacement, has been necessitated by the ankle injury to Ishant Sharma which forced him to miss the opening game of the tri-series on Friday, and the heatstroke suffered by Abhimanyu Mithun which prevented him from bowling more than four overs.
Patel has been more out of than in the Indian eleven for the last year and a half. Indeed, since March 2009, he has played just five 50-over internationals, and his last one-dayer was in November last year, against Australia in Guwahati. His recall also owes a lot to the unavailability through injury of both Zaheer Khan and S Sreesanth.
Patel will join his team-mates here in Dambulla on Friday, according to a press release from N Srinivasan, the secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India.
The Indians had an optional practice session on Friday evening, most of the Test boys sitting it out. Ishant had a good run out, seemingly untroubled by the left ankle injury that necessitated heavy strapping as he bowled a long spell at nets to Rohit Sharma, Dinesh Kaarthick and Virat Kohli. Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin completed the set of six that attended optional nets, overseen as usual by coach Gary Kirsten, with bowling coach Eric Simons keeping a close watch on Ishant’s progress. The rest of the team had another day off, manager Ranjib Biswal and a few others taking the opportunity to drive down to Trincomalee to enjoy the sights there.