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With the experience of over a hundred internationals to his name, all-rounder Sohail Tanvir knows what it takes to succeed in international cricket. The left arm pace bowler missed out on selection for the ongoing World Cup but has been keeping a close eye on proceedings. He spoke to PakPassion.net about his views on Pakistan's performance and positives which they can draw from the first victory of the 2015 World Cup against Zimbabwe, as well as the key areas of improvement as they progress through the tournament.


By Amir Husain (2nd March, 2015)

 

PakPassion.net : How do you class Pakistan’s batting display against Zimbabwe and what in your view are the issues that they need to address in order to stay in this tournament?

Sohail Tanvir : To be honest, the batting did not live up to our expectations. Yes we did win but given the strength of Zimbabwe’s bowling, we were expecting to score at the least 280 or even 300. The main issue seems to be that we are unable to get a good start to the innings; our openers are unable to score runs and lay a solid foundation for the innings.

It’s no secret that the ball will swing in the conditions in which the games in this World Cup are being played, however the only way around that is to try and play out the first ten overs without losing wickets. This has always been Pakistan’s strength that once they have wickets in hand, we have some good hitters in the team who can accelerate the scoring rate towards the end of the innings, against any bowling attack. However, when our top order batsmen get out early and expose the middle order to the newer ball, then we have to face problems as we have seen in recent matches.

Once you sort out the issue with the openers and the middle order batsmen such as Umar Akmal, Sohaib Maqsood or Shahid Afridi get to come in around the twenty five over mark, then you will see a noticeable improvement in our batting fortunes. So really the main issue which Pakistan need to sort is to be able to survive the opening overs without losing wickets.


PakPassion.net : There seems to have been a lot of debate and comment about Misbah-ul-Haq’s batting position. Do you feel he is batting at the right position at the moment?

Sohail Tanvir : There is no doubt that Misbah-ul-Haq is your best and in-form batsman. Now if he is playing at a batting position where he seems to be doing well then why shuffle the batting order? If he fails at that one down position then what will the team do? In my view, Misbah should continue batting at the position he is playing at the moment. As it is, he is virtually batting as one down given the way the top order is failing. So why change his position for the sake of it? Your real problems are the openers. If they can survive the opening overs then you won’t have to worry about Misbah’s batting position. All they need to do, as I said earlier, is to survive the first ten overs and that will automatically solve many of our batting problems.


PakPassion.net : What are your views on the use of Umar Akmal as a wicket-keeper, ahead of a specialist in the shape of Sarfraz Ahmed?

Sohail Tanvir : Ideally speaking, no Captain or Coach will ever want to play a non-specialist wicket-keeper in their line-up if they had a choice. The only reason Umar Akmal is being used as ‘keeper is to come up with an ideal combination for the team. Pakistan are trying to play an extra bowler and that is the reason he is being asked to keep.

If we wish to go into the game with five bowlers and a regular wicket-keeper, then that implies that we are playing with just five batsmen. Now given our openers are badly out of form, we are just left with three other batsmen which is not a good option. What I am saying is that the objective is not to make sure that Sarfraz doesn’t get a game. Any expert or member of the team management will tell you that a regular ‘keeper is a must. The problem is that we don’t even have an all-rounder who can play the fifth bowler and batsman’s role. In fact even our bowlers have not been that effective.

It just so happens that in the game against Zimbabwe, Wahab Riaz bowled and batted really well but you cannot rely on him to play like that in every game. So, really the circumstances are such that the team management is having to take this tough decision to not play a regular ‘keeper.


PakPassion.net : Whilst Pakistan fast-bowlers performed very well against Zimbabwe, the fact is that we did not play Yasir Shah in that game. Is that the bowling attack we should use in the remaining games or should it be changed?

Sohail Tanvir : The first thing to realize is that there is never a set combination in such tournaments. The team combination is made to take into account the pitch and the opposition. For the game that we played against Zimbabwe in Brisbane, it was always my view that since this pitch has good swing and bounce for fast-bowlers, this would be a great place to play four fast bowlers including Rahat Ali. It was good to see that the team management took this decision and that strategy also paid off in the end.

Looking towards the game in Napier, let me tell you that based on my personal experience of playing there and also watching some games on TV, the pitch usually has moisture and does help the fast-bowlers but there isn’t as much bounce on offer as it is on Australian pitches. In such conditions, you will need to opt for three fast bowlers and maybe two spinners which would be Shahid Afridi and Yasir Shah. Of course you do have the option to continue with an all pace attack, but if the pitch is dry as we saw in the England versus Sri Lanka game then playing with four fast bowlers will not be advisable.

If you are playing in a tournament like the World Cup where each game is on a different pitch and against a different opposition, then you have to be flexible and not necessarily go in with the same team combination for each game. You need to look at the pitch condition as well as the opposition’s strengths and weaknesses. Pakistan will make their minds up about the team combination when they look at the Napier pitch but if history is any guide, I would expect them to go with three pacers and two spinners for the upcoming game.


PakPassion.net : You mentioned Rahat Ali in specific when speaking about the Pakistan pace attack. What’s the best way to utilize him if he is played again?

Sohail Tanvir : In my view, Rahat Ali will be most effective if he is asked to bowl with the new ball. The reason I say that is that you need a new ball bowler who can swing the ball. In contrast to Rahat, the other three bowlers we have are the ones who usually run-in and hit the deck hard. They are not the type of bowlers who will give the ball some air and get some good outswing or inswing. I really feel that amongst all the fast-bowlers we have, Rahat is the one who can swing the ball in the air. Now, how he performs on a given day is really up to him but in terms of ability, he is best suited to bowl with the new ball.


PakPassion.net : Nasir Jamshed is having a nightmare of a tournament. He has failed in the batting and his fielding lapses are also a cause of concern. Should he be dropped for the rest of the games?

Sohail Tanvir : Look, it all depends on the team management as in how comfortable they are with his skills. At the moment, if we look at our bench strength, you don’t have too many options apart from playing Sarfraz Ahmed as an opener. Now we have already tried some makeshift opening arrangements in the shape of Younis against India which didn’t work for us. It is quite possible that the team management is of the view that they have already tried a stand-in opener and it hasn’t worked. They also know that Sarfraz, is not a genuine opener. Opening on pitches in the UAE is completely different than playing on pitches in New Zealand where the ball swings and where a specialist opener is needed. It’s a tough call for the Pakistan team management as whether to drop Nasir Jamshed or play Sarfraz Ahmed in his place. They don't have too many options.


PakPassion.net : You seem to be sitting on the fence on the matter of Nasir Jamshed's selection, why is that?

Sohail Tanvir : My view is that experts and ex-players should never criticize players who are on tour or playing in such tournaments. I will never say that Nasir should be dropped or not as I am a player myself and I know, how it feels when you are on tour and such criticism comes your way. It brings you down mentally and cannot be good for the player’s confidence. I will leave that to the management to make a call on his inclusion.


PakPassion.net : What positives can we draw from Pakistan’s victory against Zimbabwe and what are the key areas of improvement for upcoming games?

Sohail Tanvir : A win is a win – there are no two ways about it. Whether you win against a top team or one that is ordinary, the fact is that a win will give a boost to the team’s confidence and motivates you to do better in the upcoming games. If you look at the results of the games before this win against Zimbabwe where we lost warm-up games in New Zealand, lost the series against New Zealand and the two losses against India and the West Indies, then this win couldn’t have come at a better time.

It will be great to go into the next game with a victory like this. The good news is that the players who have been struggling so far can use this victory and the next two games as a way of regaining their form so that they are in prime condition to face the next big game of this tournament which will be against South Africa.

It would have been very tough if Pakistan’s next game was against South Africa but thankfully that is not the case and the team management has a chance to finalize the team combination by giving those players a chance to improve their confidence and get ready for the bigger challenges ahead. In terms of real positives, I would say that Wahab Riaz’s performance against Zimbabwe was superb. There is also nothing one can add about Misbah-ul-Haq who is the team’s main anchor. He has been fighting a lone battle for years and he is doing his job. But to me the main positive that I see from this victory is the return to form of Mohammad Irfan. As you will recall, most people were stating that Irfan would be the key factor in Pakistan’s success but as we saw in the first two games of the tournament, he was unable to deliver at the level he was expected to. However, the way he bowled against Zimbabwe showed everyone that he is far ahead of the other bowlers and to play against him is not an easy task.

In terms of areas of improvement, as I have pointed out, our opening batsmen are a real cause of concern. I also want to add that in the game against Zimbabwe, I feel that we did not take the right decision in terms of batting first. We should have bowled first to take advantage of the moisture in the pitch and use the advantage of our four man fast-bowling attack. In a sense, we played into Zimbabwe’s main strength which is their seam bowling and especially given the fact that the conditions were ideal for seam bowling, we offered a great chance to Zimbabwean bowlers. If there had been no moisture in the pitch, Pakistan would have put on a big total with ease. Alternately, if we had bowled first, with our bowling strength, we would have bowled them out for 150 or less. This would have made life a little easier for us. This is the kind of thinking that we will need to keep in mind as we proceed though the tournament.

 

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