Rahul Dravid’s dismissal on Test debut was ‘ball of my life’, states Sohail Tanvir
Pakistan pacer Sohail Tanvir reminisced his Test debut, which was against India in Delhi, and stated that he considers the dismissal of Rahul Dravid in that innings as the best ball of his life. Tanvir further expressed his gratitude to have been able to bowl to legends like Dravid and Sachin.
After catching the attention of fans through his unorthodox action and after rising to fame through his performances in the World T20 in 2007, Sohail Tanvir’s career went in overdrive mode and in no time, the left-arm pacer found himself to be an integral part of Pakistan’s set up in white-ball cricket.
Tanvir’s biggest surprise of his life, however, came in the form of a Test debut against India in 2007, after he was drafted into the team owing to an injury to Umar Gul, and the left-armer marked his debut with a three-wicket haul in his first-ever innings, a spell that included prized scalps of both Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly.
Recollecting his debut, Tanvir described his dismissal of Dravid as the ball of his life and further expressed his delight in having gotten the opportunity to bowl to absolute greats of the game like Sachin, Ganguly and Dravid.
"Initially I wasn't a part of the squad. I was part of the ODIs. Umar Gul got injured accidentally. The way I got Dravid out on my debut, I still remember it was ‘ball of my life'," Tanvir said on the YouTube show called ‘Cric Cast', reported Times Now.
"I remember Wasim Akram had once dismissed Dravid - with the same length, the same line, the same delivery. The ball swung from left stump and clipped off the off-stump. It was my dream delivery.
"Bowling against the greats like Dravid, Sachin, Laxman, and Ganguly especially in India was remarkable. These are the guys that have made thousands of runs in Test cricket. They have so many achievements. Especially if you talk about Rahul Dravid, he was called the wall. Breaking through his defence was very hard, being a youngster, and especially it being a surprise call since I wasn't prepared for the Test side at the time.”
The 35-year-old, who has not played an international game in almost three years, however, went on to play just one more Test after his debut and was never picked again in the whites after the India series, where he took a total of 5 wickets from 4 innings. Tanvir, who has a first-class bowling average of 24, said that he was unfortunately branded a white-ball specialist and claimed that he definitely should have played more Tests than what he did.
"Unfortunately my Test career ended there. That was very unfortunate. Even when I think about it today, I think I could have played a lot more Tests for Pakistan.
"People call me a T20 specialist and white-ball cricketer but nobody knows about my strengths. They don't know what I am capable of with the red-ball. If you look at my stats or ask people I have played against, you can get an idea. Unfortunately, I couldn't get many chances.”
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