Left-arm Pakistan seamer Sohail Tanvir reckons his team will have an edge over the archrivals India in the fast bowling department in the upcoming limited overs series, adding that the hosts do not have permanent pace attack.
“Pakistan has an edge over India in fast bowling as India lack good quality fast bowlers,” left-arm pacer Sohail Tanvir told reporters here in Bangalore. “Indian pacers are busy cementing their place in the team and they lack in confidence. India does not have permanent pace attack and we will try to take advantage of that,” he added further.
Besides Tanvir, the Pakistan cricket team boasts the likes of T20 death overs’ specialist Umar Gul, left-arm seamer Junaid Khan, and gangling paceman Mohammad Irfan. The visiting pace attack will be further strengthened by the inclusion of Wahab Riaz come the one-day leg of the itinerary, starting in Chennai on December 30. One the other side of the coin, the Men in Blue have struggled to find a set pace combination of late, and will be without frontline seamer Zaheer Khan, who has been dropped after having failed to impress the selectors with his performances this year.
Tanvir, the 28-year-old Rawalpindi fast bowler, was also full of praise for his side’s spin department, led by wily off-spinner Saeed Ajmal. He, however rued the fact that fast bowlers’ performances get overshadowed because of the spinners. “With the arrival of Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi and Mohammad Hafeez in Pakistan team and playing together in matches after matches, the performances of fast bowlers goes unnoticed,” he argued.
Tanvir, a veteran of 50 One Day Internationals and 26 T20 Internationals, said that the experience of playing in Indian conditions in the past would help him perform better in the forthcoming series against the arch-rivals.
“I have played in India and performed really well. I cherish 2007 series in India where I bowled well and got many wickets in Tests and ODIs,” said the left-arm seamer reminiscing about their 2007 tour of India, where he was the leading wicket-taker in the five-match ODI series with eight scalps from four innings.
