Tanvir surprised by Dahani’s inclusion in Pakistan Test squad

Pakistan pacer Sohail Tanvir was left surprised by the inclusion of rookie fast-bowler, Shahnawaz Dahani, in the Test squad for the series against Zimbabwe.

Tanvir, who was Dahani’s teammate in Multan Sultans side during PSL 6, believes that the right-armer has not played enough first-class cricket.

“Shahnawaz Dahani 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, according to PakPassion.

“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.

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Tanvir, who features regularly in T20 leagues around the world, is also against the idea of fast-tracking youngsters in the national side.

“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. In Pakistan, we seem to bring players directly over from domestic cricket into top-level cricket, but the fact is that the only bridge from domestic to international cricket should be via Pakistan A teams which seems to be the case in the rest of the world. So, if a player delivers at Pakistan A stage, then chances are very high that he will do well in the senior side,” he concluded.