Although he was ignored in his own home State of Madhya Pradesh, Munis Ansari, a youngster from Sehore, made his town and India proud by representing the Sultanate of Oman in the ICC World Twenty20.
Munis in his ICC World Cup debut match on Wednesday bowled his quota of four overs and took three wickets by giving only 37 runs. Munis' mother Iqbal Fatima, while talking to 'The Pioneer' over phone said, "I am proud that my son is representing a country in the World Cup, though I am also pained that Madhya Pradesh ignored his talent forcing to look for other options. We would have been happier had Munis been representing India." Fatima further said that though it is for the first time her son is playing in World Cup but he has already played over a dozen international matches on behalf of Oman.
Notably, Munis had impressed former bowling giant Denis lillie during the MRF talent search drive about a decade back. lillie was so much impressed by the young Munis that he recommended to include him in the MP squad for Ranjhi Trophy. During the talent search he famed as Sehore express as he bowled at a speed of 145 km. Munis' elder brother Yunus said that the whole family is proud of him but lamented the fact that despite hitting the 145 kmph mark consistently, he was never selected in the Madhya Pradesh team. This forced him to leave India and play for another country.
Yunus said, "Discrimination was the main reason he was not given chance in domestic team. Despite being one of the few pace bowlers around, he wasn't considered in the Division team as well and that forced him to leave the country six years back."
Yunus further said that in today's match also he has taken three wickets for his team in his quota of four overs. The whole family remained glued to the television screen and we watched whole match. He said that Munis' pace in the nets has impressed many veteran cricketers and even got the better of Sachin Tendulkar and dismissed him along with former English all-rounder Andrew Flintoff once.