Islamabad, September 14: Out-of-favour Pakistan pacer Sohail Tanvir is focusing on improving his all-round abilities in order to regain his place in the national team for the coming tours of New Zealand and Australia.
Tanvir, who has been out of the team for loss of form and some fitness problems, said that in order to get back into the side he needed to be ranked as an all-rounder.
“There is so much one-day internationals and T20 matches being played these days, that it always helps your career to be recognised as a genuine allrounder. I will do more justice to my batting,” Tanvir said in an interview.
He said that he had made four or five first class centuries in domestic cricket but never took his batting seriously.
“I think my batting fell away after the first T20 World Cup in South Africa. There was a lot of load on me as a bowler and I totally focused on that area which was a mistake,” he said.
Tanvir, who is helping out the Pakistan players training in the Champions Trophy camp in Karachi, said he was now focusing and giving equal importance to batting and bowling.
“There is a lot of competition in Pakistan in the pace bowling department these days and if you can bat usefully in the middle or late order this will always give you an edge over your competitors,” Tanvir said.
Tanvir who was declared the best bowler in the inaugural Indian Premier League competition while playing for Rajasthan Royals said he was facing no fitness problems.
“That is a wrong impression. It is just that perhaps I lost the edge in my bowling after nearly two years of non-stop bowling at every level,” he said.
The left-arm bowler said he had also got a few tips from former great Wasim Akram and was aiming to make a comeback for the forthcoming series against New Zealand and Australia.
“I realize now that unless you are playing for your country and performing people and even your die-hard fans tend to very quickly forget you. It has been a good learning process for me these last few months. I will come back stronger,” he said.
Tanvir said he was in line to play the IPL next year depending on the relations between Pakistan and India at that time.
—–PTI