Selectors and team management haven’t done justice with Tanveer Ahmad, the fast bowler from Karachi, during the last ten months. Although he took 85 wickets in the season preceding Pakistan’s long tour to England in 2010, he was kept out of the team throughout the summer.
He was sent back after the test matches ended. (Pakisan played six tests there, two against Australia and four against England.) The team management ignored him even when Umar Gul got injured. The vacancy was filled by Wahab Riaz whose five wickets in the first innings of his first match did nothing to undo the injustice with Tanveer Ahmad.
The selectors did not consider him worthy of the one-day series although the weather and pitches in England suit his kind of bowlers. He is not an express fast bowler but relies mostly on swing. That is the kind of bowling that succeeds in England.
He stayed out of the team even in the first test match against South Africa in UAE. Only when Wahab Riaz got injured during the first match, did he get his first opportunity. Then he proved his mettle by taking six South African wickets on a lifeless pitch. His wickets included the best South African batsmen. He excelled in the tests against New Zealand as well, but was not considered even for a single one-day match.
When the squad for 2011 world cup was announced, it was said that Sohail Tanvir had been preferred because of his experience of international cricket. But when Sohail Tanvir got injured, the selectors did not send Tanveer Ahmad with the team, choosing instead inexperienced Junaid Khan. It was sheer injustice, wasn’t it?
The selectors are about to announce the team for the West Indies tour that starts in mid-April. Now that Shoaib Akhtar has retired and Abdul Razzaq is no longer considered a specialist bowler, Tanveer Ahmad must be given chances. He deserves to play for the country. Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz and Tanvir Ahmad will make a very good pace attack. Not only should he be chosen for the two tests we have to play there, but he should also be given chance in the limited overs games. It is time selectors did justice with him. Sohail Tanvir or Junaid Khan or any other bowler should not keep him out.
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