Medium pace bowler Tanvir Ahmed, who made a sensational debut against South Africa last October is looking forward to establish himself as an all-rounder in Pakistan team. “Six wickets haul on debut against powerful team like South Africa boosted my confidence and now my good batting has raised my spirit,” he said on Monday. “My maiden half century against the West Indies in Basseterre gave me a chance to improve my batting and prove that I can serve Pakistan in both departments of the game in addition to fielding,” 32-year-old Kuwait born Tanvir, said. “If you look at my batting record I am not a novice as I have scored 14 half centuries and my batting average is just under 21 in first class cricket,” he pointed out. “It’s great to be coached by my favorite Waqar Younis. I started my cricket inspired by watching Wicki Bhai and now lucky learning a great deal from the great fast bowler,” he recalled. “When I was told by the coach I am playing against South Africa on a flat Abu Dhabi track last year, I was under pressure in the start,” he revealed.
“But when I got the prized scalps of Hashim Amla and captain Graeme Smith it thrilled me and inserted energy into my bowling,” he commented. He said adding the wickets of Kallis and Boucher made my day a very special and memorable. Karachi-based Tanvir Ahmed said by performing with the bat and ball, he dispelled the impression that age is any problem. “It was wonderful to undertake the tour of West Indies and play on the famous grounds of the world,” he said. He was disappointed to see slower tracks which in the Caribbeans, once famous for bouncy tracks. “It’s generally the changing the trend and even world’s famous and bounciest track of Perth is not that fast,” he remarked. “I think it more difficult for the bowlers to perform on slow track as it’s more favorable to batting across the world,” he said. “Now on these tracks you got to be innovative and make a lot of variations to succeed,” he added. He said he was looking forward to perform well in National T20 Cup starting in Faisalabad from June 26 before the tour of Zimbabwe in August.