12 Facts about Sohail Tanvir - The Unorthodox T20 Specialist

Sohail Tanvir is widely known for his unorthodox left-arm fast bowling and six-hitting ability down the order. With his wrong-footed bowling action, he has enjoyed a lot of success against batsmen over the years, especially in the shortest form of the game.

Here are some engrossing facts about Sohail Tanvir:

1. Birth and first-class cricket:

Sohail Tanvir was born on 12 December 1984 and belongs to Rawalpindi from a Kaira Gujjar tribe. He made his first-class debut against Peshawar in 2004. In only his second game he scored an unbeaten 97 and took 3 wickets.

2. T20I debut:

After Shoaib Akhtar was sent back home in 2007, Tanvir got a call-up to the national squad for the inaugural World T20 in South Africa. In his debut series, he picked up 6 wickets from as many matches.

3. Off the mark with a six:

Sohail got the opportunity to bat for the first time in international cricket only in the final of the World T20 2007. The first two connections off his bat were for sixes as he scored 12 off 4 deliveries to get his team right back in the match.

4. ODI debut:

He made his ODI debut right after the World T20 in 2007 against South Africa in Lahore. He got Justin Kemp out LBW for his maiden ODI wicket.

5. Test debut:

Tanvir played his debut Test against India in Delhi in November 2007. He picked up 3 wickets including crucial scalps of Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly.

6. Bowling spin:

In his debut series against India, Tanvir was seen bowling spin in one of the matches. As the pitch provided no assistance for fast bowling, he resorted to spin and continued like that for 3 overs.

7. Handy with the bat:

In the 2008 Asia Cup, Pakistan batters were struggling in their first ever match against Hong Kong. That is when Tanvir along with Fawad Alam set up a hundred run stand for the 8th wicket to take the team to a respectable score of 288. He got his maiden fifty as he scored 59 off just 55 balls to earn the man of the match award.

8. Purple Cap in IPL:

The inaugural IPL saw Sohail Tanvir setting the stage on fire with his bowling. He was a part of the Rajasthan Royals franchise which eventually won the trophy. Tanvir picked up 22 wickets in the tournament to end up as the leading wicket-taker and hence won the purple cap.

9. Best bowling figures in IPL:

His match-winning figures of 6 for 14 against the Chennai Super Kings in the first ever IPL still stands as the best ever bowling figures in the elite competition.

10. 5-wicket haul:

In 2008 against Sri Lanka, Tanvir picked up his first and only 5-wicket haul in ODIs. He ended up with the figures of 5/48. Though he got the Man of the Match award but his side still lost the match.

11. Injury and come back:

Right after the 2009 World T20, Tanvir suffered a knee injury which saw him out of action for around a year. He missed the World T20 2010 and the following Asia Cup. Despite being named in the 15-man squad for the World Cup 2011 initially, he was ruled out eventually after failing to complete a full rehabilitation from a knee surgery. The surgery kept him out for another two years.

12. Career statistics:

Sohail Tanvir has played 2 Tests, 62 ODIs and 54 T20Is in which he has picked up 5, 71 and 52 wickets respectively.

Written by Jishnu Bhattacharyya