Paceman Munaf Patel was today ruled out of the first two one-day internationals
against West Indies after being advised two weeks of rest for a sore ankle.
Patel has hurt the ankle early on the tour of South Africa
and had sat out of three ODIs and the first two Tests.
He was brought in for the third Test but was clearly not completely fit and
a medical examination by BCCI physician Dr. Anant Joshi confirmed just that.
"Patel has been advised two weeks' rest by Dr. Joshi when
he examined him today after the bowler complained that he was still feeling
pain in the ankle," BCCI Secretary Niranjan Shah said today.
Patel will hence not be available to play at least in the first two ODIs against
the West Indies at Nagpur (January 21) and Cuttack (January 24), Shah said.
The team for the first two matches of the home series, along with the list
of 30 probables for the World Cup, would be picked at Rajkot on January 12.
Surprisingly, Patel, who hurt his ankle during the second ODI,
had been declared fully fit by team physio John Gloster to play in the
deciding third and final Test at Cape Town.
Asked how this could have happened, Shah said the bowler did not complain then
that he was having pain and was thus cleared to play the match by Gloster.
BCCI, peeved at the manner in which the bowler was retained in the team as
a mere spectator for more than a month, had dashed off a letter to Gloster asking
for an update on his injury and was promptly cleared by the physio to play the
deciding third Test.
Patel is also set to miss the last round Ranji Trophy
elite division Group B match against Mumbai at Nashik, starting from January
10.
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