Sohail Tanvir eyes strong comeback to ODIs

Dubai - The lanky veteran who joined the Pakistan squad this week for their T20s against England this weekend, said his domestic performances in the shorter versions, especially the T20s, have brought him back into national reckoning.

Sohail Tanvir, the left-arm medium pacer with a characteristic hop, skip and jump pre-delivery action, is now focusing on one thing at a time, in a bid to come back as a regular for the Pakistan ODI team.
The lanky veteran who joined the Pakistan squad this week for their T20s against England this weekend, said his domestic performances in the shorter versions, especially the T20s, have brought him back into national reckoning.
"I have been carrying a wrong tag of being always injury prone which actually is not wholly true. It has given me a lot of negative image to my career. But now the selectors have seen my show back home and specifically told me of the roles I have to play, starting with the T20s against England this year," Tanvir said at the ICC Academy, on Sunday night.
The 30-year old stalwart who is a short version specialist with 71 ODI and 42 T20 wickets from over 100 matches for Pakistan, reckons the coming T20 series against England, followed by the New Zealand trip, and the Asia Cup as being the preparatory phases for him to get set for his comeback trail.
"Just four months or less for all of us with only a few big assignments as practice. This means the fight for places will be intense from now for the T20 World Cup. We got past England in the Tests but went down to a superior England who had a more balanced ODI team. But I reckon the T20s this week are going to be in Pakistan's favour because of a better blend of youth and experience with useful all-rounders," Tanvir continued.
"I am in trim condition now after consistent performances in the domestic leagues. Now these T20s will be a yardstick in my comeback efforts for the Pakistan ODI squad. I am adapt at any form to be honest but as things stand my performance levels have peaked more often in the one-day and T20 formats."
moni@khaleejtimes.com