Irfan Pathan during a practice session in Bangalore on Monday. (Reuters)

Vadodara: Munaf Patel is working hard to achieve the elusive 100 miles per hour mark, but is not ready to sacrifice his line and length in the process.

The Gujarat quick has been polishing his talent to shore up the speed in gruelling nets here after travelling all the way from Ikhar, his native village.

“I am giving finishing touches to my action for generating more speed,” the 23-year-old said on Monday.

Ever since returning from the West Indies, where he picked 14 wickets from four Tests, Munaf has been religiously visiting Vadodara to work at nets despite his village being a fair distance away.

“I am trying to generate speed in excess of 150 kmph keeping in mind the tournaments ahead,” the unassuming Munaf said.

“Line and length, however, are extremely important. Speed must not be achieved at the cost of bowling a wrong line,” he said. The fastest that Munaf has bowled so far is 144.9 kmph.

The Caribbean tour has proved to be a turning point in the Team India mediumpacer’s career. Munaf picked the prize scalp of Brian Lara thrice in Tests.

He was quick to express happiness at Sachin Tendulkar’s return to the squad. “It will be a great help to have Tendulkar around,” he said. (PTI)