But Munaf's 128 kmph-and-thereabouts suggested that he should listen to what the Safs thinks of him after the Champions Trophy: "soft" and "a bit laidback". It's an image that Munaf would have to shatter over the next month. It's an image that Team India thinktank, which rates him so highly, should help him shatter.

He was extremely flat in his first spell prompting a quick switchover to Ajit Agarkar after four overs. He came back for four overs more in the 14 th to be gifted with the wicket of Herschelle Gibbs. And he came on for a final two after the 39th just one gear higher, around the 132 kmph mark. The final analysis — 10-2-39-2 - doesn't say much but he was simply not there.

Should the Indian thinktank take a page from the South African notebook, at least for this series? Should they note down how the home side has worked its bowling attack around Makhaya Ntini, giving the great Black icon all the room to let it rip? As they say, identify one spearhead, let him loose, work the rest around him — it could be Munaf, it could be Sreesanth who hit 149 kmph in Malaysia.

Well, if that was one question for India, the answers came from Zaheer, Agarkar, Harbhajan, Mongia and Tendulkar. Yes, they were knocked around for a few, but they did more than a decent job for a series opener. And that too, after a nightmare six months of stop-start cricket.

... contd.