Interview Tanwir Afzal: 'We were expecting at least one win in the World T20'

Hong Kong captain Tanwir Afzal caught everyone’s eye with his all-round skills in the 2014 and the 2016 World T20s. The Pakistan born Hong Kong cricketer made his debut in international cricket in 2014. The 27-year old right-hander, who has a history of playing Under-19 cricket for Pakistan, has led Hong Kong to their first win in ICC Intercontinental Cup in last November. It was his first game as captain which he made a memorable one by scoring a brilliant century and followed by picking up a couple of wickets with the ball.

Tanwir also played a crucial role in the recent games at the ICC World Cricket league (One-dayers) by picking up 7 wickets in just 3 games and scored 86 runs at a strike rate of 191.11. Following the recently concluded World T20, Tanwir in an exclusive interview with

Following the recently concluded World T20, Tanwir in an exclusive interview with Sampath Bandarupalli of CricTracker talks about his cricketing journey and the success he has seen as a player.

First of all, tell us how cricket happened to you. You started from Pakistan and are representing Hong Kong in international cricket now, how difficult was this journey?

I was born in Pakistan. I started to play cricket from school team. First, I tried for U16 team in 2002 at the regional level and was selected there. Later I was selected for the Pakistan Under19 team in 2006. I played for Pakistan Military Accounts Department team for two seasons. I did well there. In Pakistan, cricket season starts from late September and ends in March. So I had free time before the season. So I decided to go somewhere to play. My friend Hammadullah Khan, who lives in Malaysia asked me to come and play cricket there. He told that they were organizing Premier League over there and invited me to come if I wish to play there.

I performed well there. Hong Kong players were present there for ACC tournament and were impressed by my performance. They asked me to come over to Hong Kong play league games which might help my game. One of the Hong Kong national players talked to me frankly that I have a great future and asked me to play there. I played there for Pakistan association of Hong Kong in 2008, which is my first club in Hong Kong till now. They were quite impressed by my game and asked me not to go back to Pakistan. ‘Just meet you parents and come back. You have a bright future. You are eligible to play cricket for Hong Kong national team.’

I was asking myself whether to stay there and go back as I wanted to play more and more cricket. A friend of mine told me that I will now be able to play at the international level which I might not if I go back to Pakistan as it isn’t easy as U19 to make into national team and we need to do a lot of hard work to make into Pakistan national team.

You played against India U19 when you were playing for Pakistan. After that you went to Hong Kong and settled there. Did you ever feel that you might have got chance to play for Pakistan if you would have stayed?

I was doing well in domestic circuit and overseas leagues. National call depends up on my performances and the hard work I do. But we never know I would have played for Pakistan at that time. I am pretty happy to play cricket as my passion.

As a captain, you might have been disappointed how your team fared at the recently concluded World T20. What are the positives you would like to take from the tournament?

We are new to this level. To match the quality of cricket Afghanistan and Test nations play, we need to work a lot. We played some good cricket. Disappointment is not the word to use but we need to work hard and improve to match that level.

Though you lost all 3 games at this World T20, the team showed a good fighting spirit. Individually, you had a good tournament. From your point of view what were the expectations and how fruitful was it?

We were expecting at least one win. We defeated Afghanistan and Scotland at home before. We had some good series before coming into the tournament. But on a particular day, you might have a bad day at office. We were in a good position to win against Zimbabwe but you know we need to work really hard to improve certain aspects of the game to match their level.

Did you catch up with the later stages of this World T20? What are your thoughts on Pakistan teams performance, Virat Kohli’s batting and the crunch moments of the final?

Actually the way Pakistan has performed in T20Is against England and in Asia Cup, they did well at WT20. They struggled to play at the big stage cause thing didn’t went well for them in earlier series. They need to work on their team combination.

Virat Kohli is a fantastic player. He is really consistent. He was probably only player at WT20 who was consistent in every game. After each of his performance, every former player talks a lot about him. If we see Kohli’s reaction after getting out even after scoring a big knock, he looks disappointed. He wants to score more and more. I am very happy to see Kohli doing well.

It was really amazing how West Indies won. From the first game they played really well and had the momentum with them. And 4 sixes thing was really a big thing. It was something impossible but in T20 anything can be possible.

How was the feeling coming to India and playing? This is a country crazy about cricket. How was the hospitality and reception for you guys in India?

I think it was really good for us. The way everyone says India is a country where everyone loves cricket. The way they come to the grounds and the environment they create, we always enjoyed. We love to see and play cricket in such environment.

Talking about the Hong Kong domestic circuit, what impact does the Hong Kong sixes has on the players? The tournament was cancelled for 3 years due to lack of sponsors. How important is the tournament for upcoming players in the country who get a chance to share the stage with other international cricketers?

I think it was really a good competition to expose ourselves because the Hong Kong sixes was popular. From the game’s point of view we never really played the sixes here and there. It was only because they bring Hong Kong closer to the big cricketing countries. I hope they will bring back the competition very soon.

The Hong Kong Cricket Association is planning to make a Twenty20 premier league this year. Do you think it is going to be a welcome change to develop the quality of cricket in the country and attract more people and attention to the game?

In last 3-4 years, Hong Kong cricket has been going up thanks to the professional people working in the association. They are working well to improve the quality of cricket in Hong Kong and make it professional. I hope the Twenty20 premier league will be a success which is starting next month. It will be a good thing for Hong Kong cricket.

As a Hong Kong player, what do you think was the biggest moment for you and for the team till now?

There are few good moments to mention like beating Bangladesh at their home in WT20 2014 and getting the ODI status after doing well in the 2015 World Cup qualifiers in New Zealand in 2014. All these achievements boost confidence in every single Hong Kong player.

The win against Bangladesh in 2014 World T20 would be a special one. And you started the game by taking two crucial wickets in the first over. How was the feeling after the victory over the hosts of an ICC mega event?

It was a special one for us. It was our first win in World Cup and first win against a Test playing nation. We celebrated it in our style. It was a dream start to get two wickets in the first over. Tamim Iqbal is a dangerous player. It was a great start to get him for a duck and later the wicket of Sabbir Rahman. It always makes you feel good when you contribute and give starts to the team.

As an associate nation player, what changes would you like to see to develop and promote the game among associate nations?

I think we can say more games against big sides. Because if we play more games against better sides we will know how to improve to play and defeat them. If associate players get to play in premier leagues of Test nations, maybe they don’t get a chance to play in the XI but can help them to experience and play good level of cricket when they come back and represent their nations.