Former Pakistan left-arm pacer Sohail Tanvir has said that he regrets not to have got the opportunity to play in the Indian Premier League after its opening season, a tournament which he rates as the top T20 league in the world.
The 35-year old was the best bowler of the inaugural edition, leading Rajasthan Royals to a title triumph but since then no Pakistani player has featured in the IPL due to strained political and diplomatic relations between the two countries. Tanvir said he had learnt a lot as a youngster playing in the first IPL with Shane Warne as his captain.
“Yes as a professional cricketer there is regret that myself and other Pakistani players can’t appear in the IPL. It is realistically the top T20 league in the world. Which player would not like to play in it,” Tanvir told Gports on the GTV News channel.
Tanvir, who last played for Pakistan in April 2017 against West Indies in a T20 International, has been a regular in T20 leagues around the world and is considered as a specialist bowler.
Tanvir revealed he intentionally cut down on his T20 league appearances to play domestic cricket in all formats as he still wants to play for Pakistan.
“I have not given up hope of getting a recall to the Pakistan squad for the Asia Cup and World T20 this year. Then we also have another World T20 next year in India. The fact that the selectors have recalled Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik for the series against Bangladesh has given me lot of hope. It means seniors are still in contention,” he said.
Tanvir also stated he was a bit disappointed at being ignored by the selectors after topping the national T20 championship bowling charts few months back.
“It is part and parcel of any professional cricketer’s life. I will now give my best in the coming Pakistan Super League. It is good that the chief selector has said that performances in the PSL will be taken into consideration for the coming series,” he said.
