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Simmons:

Munaf would not have been an automatic choice for the playing XI, had injury not ruled out Praveen Kumar from the squad before the start of the World Cup. Praveen had until then formed, along with Ashish Nehra, the back-up unit for Zaheer Khan. "We had singled out the bowlers for the last 3-4 series and Praveen's injury had been a setback for us as he was part of our plans," Simons said.

It was Munaf, Simons said, who had given the bowling unit reassurance when he arrived, with both an awareness of his own skills and his ability to adapt. "Munaf is one of the unsung heroes of the World Cup for us - he stepped in and played a vital part for us, after we lost Praveen and Ashish suffered from injuries during the tournament. Munaf has learnt to understand his bowling and stuck to his game plan taking some crucial wickets." Munaf was India's third-highest wicket-taker in the World Cup behind Zaheer and Yuvraj Singh with 11 victims.

Munaf's wicket-to-wicket line and ability to generate bounce off the Indian tracks made him hard to get away by opposition batsman. Despite the pounding received by the bowlers in the early half of the tournament, "Munaf never once doubted himself or what he could offer the team," Simons said. "His work ethic is enormous; he has a very strong and steady head on his shoulders and calmness in any situation. He gave Zaheer the freedom to bowl very freely and aggressively." Simons said in his 15 months with the team, Munaf had become a "close friend."

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