Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — Clad in a tracksuit and joggers, Sohail Tanvir stands endlessly wearing a smile as children and Jeddah cricketers lineup for selfies at Hala Cricket Academy in Jeddah. Quite unlike pacemen, the 6'5" Pakistani gentle-giant is mellow and considerate. But start talking cricket and a passionate sportsman emerges from a cocoon. It is the same passion that he credits all the Pakistan players with, which has carried them through the tumultuous times since 2009. It was in March of that year that gunmen attacked a Sri Lankan team bus forcing other teams to cancel trips to Pakistan, which has since played its home series mostly in the UAE. Talking exclusively with Saudi Gazette, he says playing away from home, affects not just the players, but also the sport and the public. The public is starved of cricket. "You must have seen the crowds which came to see Zimbabwe play in Pakistan recently. In normal times you would not have seen that crowd for Zimbabwe team, but the people wanted to make a statement. "Our domestic T20 semifinals and final are also played in front of jam-packed stadiums." It is Pakistan players' passion for the game that has carried them through these testing times. "It is the passion to prove ourselves that we can achieve greatness despite all the problems," he says. He credits Test skipper Misbahul Haq, with his calm and collected demeanor, for helping Pakistan come out of the depths. While Pakistan was pushed into playing its home series out of the country, it plunged into the spot-fixing saga in England in 2010. "If someone does not give credit to Misbah, he is doing injustice to Pakistan cricket," puts Tanvir bluntly. Asked whether all the players respect him as much, the all-rounder says: "He has never had any issue with anyone. He always keeps his cool and answers critics with his performance." Mohammad Amir's return to Pakistan fold, however, is a sensitive issue for the paceman. "I am a player and it is for the Pakistan Cricket Board to decide who plays and who does not," he says. Amir, along with Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif, was banned from cricket for five years in 2011. In September this year, the International Cricket Council lifted sanctions against the three. Tanvir will also partner Amir under the banner of Karachi Kings in the recently launched Pakistan Super League, which will be played in Dubai and Sharjah from Feb. 4-23. The lanky all-rounder also felt sorry for fellow-spinner Yasir Shah, who returned a positive test and has been provisionally suspended by the International Cricket Council. "He would have taken some medicine without prescription," he said adding that he has had high blood pressure issues. Asked if the players know all there is to know about doping, the Rawalpindi-born bowler said the players have to attend a class on anti-doping before every tour. "We are told in detail about all medication. You have to inform the doctor even while taking medicine for headache," he said. The suspension is likely to hit Pakistan's chances at the upcoming World Twenty20 cricket tournament since Yasir was one of its aces. Tanvir, however, still brackets Pakistan among the semifinalists at the event. "Our T20 history backs us and on paper we are there. We will produce good results," he says confidently. But Tanvir was at a loss to explain Pakistan team's unpredictability. "I do not know. I used to read about it even before playing for Pakistan, but we are never relaxed." The beauty of the team seems to lie in its unpredictability and that is what the team seems to be trying to achieve. "People say cricket is a game of chance, going by that Pakistan fits the description," he adds. Tanvir says he knew cricket was being played in Saudi Arabia, but it was a pleasant surprise to see cricket being played in such an organized fashion. He is in the Kingdom on the invitation of Jeddah Cricket Association (JCA) and has attended the ACE-Initial Saudi Premier League T20 final between My Care Hala and Ace Travel in Usfan Friday. According to Sameer Nidal Khan, JCA director, Tanvir was invited to encourage the players and followers of SPL. Tanvir did not want to rush to judgment about the state of cricket in Saudi Arabia since he did not get a chance to see a lot of matches and players. The all-rounder, however, had a very interesting understanding of the state of affairs of the game. "For any sport to grow the first precondition is unity. Until all the parties concerned are on the same page, they cannot help cricket flourish," he noted.
