Given Shahnawaz Dhani’s inexperience, his inclusion in the Pakistan Test squad is surprising: Sohail Tanvir

Pakistan’s left-arm quick Sohail Tanvir isn’t happy with fast-bowler Shahnawaz Dhani’s inclusion in the national side for the Test series against Zimbabwe. Sohail heaped praises on the 22-year-old young rookie by saying that he is an energetic player and is keen on learning new things about the game from his seniors. 

However, the left-arm quick believes that Dhani does not have enough experience of playing First-class game, and thus his inclusion in the Test squad is surprising. Both Tanvir and Dahani had together played for Multan Sultans during the 2021 edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL).

The right-arm pacer has featured in just 8 First-class games picking a stunning 27 wickets at an economy rate of 3.68 and an average of 33.7. Further, the youngster has also played 6 List-A games scalping 5 wickets.

“Shahnawaz Dhani comes across as a very energetic young fast-bowler who is very keen on learning from seniors. I gave him a lot of advice [during PSL 6] about white-ball cricket and tried to pass on whatever knowledge I have. Azhar Mahmood also interacted a lot with Dhani and I am sure that must have been beneficial for him,” said Tanvir as quoted by Cricket Pakistan

“I will, however, add that I feel that given his inexperience his inclusion in the Pakistan Test squad for Zimbabwe is a surprising one, but I do hope he will do well and learn from this as these are still early days of his career, as he has just played one season of First-Class cricket and 3-4 PSL games,” he added.

If player delivers at Pakistan A stage, then chances are very high that he will do well in the senior side: Sohail Tanvir

Sohail Tanvir, who has featured in 62 One Day Internationals and 57 T20 Internationals for Pakistan, further asserted that the players should not be fast-tracked into the National side and they must get exposure of playing for Pakistan A.

 “I am sure there are differing opinions on this but I for one, am not a strong believer in the idea of fast-tracking young players into the national side. We have many examples in the last 4-5 years, most recently of Naseem Shah, where players have been tried ahead of their time and have not been able to establish a place in the Pakistan side,” he said.

“Of course, not all players will be able to establish a place in the national side but players being promoted to play international cricket should be able to hold their position in the side. If a player delivers at Pakistan A stage, then chances are very high that he will do well in the senior side,” he concluded.