Pleased with my T20I comeback: Sohail Tanvir

31-year-old aims to win back place in ODI squad

KARACHI: Left-arm pacer Sohail Tanvir has expressed his satisfaction after making a successful return to the T20I series against the West Indies.

The 31-year old T20I specialist returned to the squad for the one-off match against England at Old Trafford earlier this month before his induction in the team for the series against West Indies.

Opening the attack with man-of-the-series Imad Wasim, Sohail succeeded in stifling the opponents in all three games of the series.

“I was really happy with my bowling partnership with Imad,” said Tanvir. “His control and line was superb which gave him great results, we both choked the runs which made their batsmen go for big shots and losing their wickets.”

Tanvir returned remarkable figures of three for 13 in his four over quota of the second T20I; the performance at the Dubai International Stadium (DIS) was the most satisfying for the bowler.

“I really enjoyed by the spell in the second match,” he added. “I rate the performance among my best for Pakistan in the shortest format especially since it paved way for a fine win for the team.”

Sarfraz’s aggression as captain is tonic for team

Tanvir is full of praise for the leadership qualities of new T20I captain Sarfraz Ahmed, who has won all of his four matches after taking over captaincy from veteran all-rounder Shahid Afridi.

“Sarfraz is a fine leader and his aggressive captaincy style is refreshing,” he said. “He chalked out plans for us and my role was to take wickets with the new ball besides the death bowling task that I have been regularly given both at club and international levels.

“The good thing about Sarfraz is that he respected seniors and also gave space to the juniors to maximise their talent and skill.”

The 31-year-old, who is a globe-trotting T20 player also feels that his experience of playing the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) for the last few seasons helped him understand the strengths and weaknesses of the West Indian batsmen better than most.

“During the bowlers meeting before each game, Shoaib Malik and I used to share our knowledge of the batting abilities of the West Indian batsmen and the areas to target against them,” said Tanvir. “I am happy to have contributed in that sense to the team cause, credit also goes to the younger bowlers who followed the plans that we made for the batsmen.”

The Karachi Kings all-rounder further added that his aim now is to win back his place in the ODI team, especially since there is a dearth of a hard hitting bowling all-rounder lower down the batting order.

“Yes, I have identified the vacancy [in the ODI team],” said the 31-year-old. "I know I can serve the team there and my ambition is to win back my ODI place by a solid show in the domestic season.

“I have always worked hard on my batting, I am also hopeful that I have impressed the selectors and team management with my fitness levels which I hope to improve further.”