An exceptional case of Tanvir Ahmed

Pakistan is a country which is known in the cricketing world to expose young-talent at the international arena very early in their career. Majority of the Test playing nations would wait and analyse the performance of a player in first class cricket unlike Pakistan where the selectors are not afraid of throwing the youngsters in deep waters.

Tauseef Ahmed, Wasim Akram, Hassan Raza, Shahid Afridi and Imran Nazir are some of the many examples where the selectors picked them for the national squads even with limited or in some cases no first-class experience. On the other hand, it is very rare for Pakistani selectors to pick a new player who is in his 30’s.
However, Tanvir Ahmed has been an exception. He made his Test debut against South Africa in the 2^nd and the final Test of the series at Abu Dhabi. Before getting the Test cap, Tanvir had played 102 first class matches, which is quite a lot for a medium-fast bowler. On top of his experience, Tanvir would be 32 in December.
Tanvir was born in Kuwait and spent his childhood there. After some years, he along with his family returned to Pakistan. Just like all other Pakistani players, he started playing cricket in the streets with the tennis ball which developed a strong bowling action for him. Tanvir made his first-class debut in the 1998-99 season and since then has represented many teams of Karachi and departments including Allied Bank and PWD.
Tanvir has continuously performed well in the domestic cricket since his debut but the highlight of his career would remain the 2009-10 season, when he took 85 wickets at an amazing average of 17.12 runs per wicket. His contribution was influential as Karachi went on to lift the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy.
Tanvir was initially picked for Pakistan’s tour of England where Pakistan had to play 6 Tests against Australia and England. However, Tanvir did not get a chance in any of the international matches because of the strong Pakistani bowling attack. Umer Gul’s injury opened the door for Tanvir to play the Oval Test but at the last moment Wahab Riaz, the left arm pacer was given preference. Wahab did not disappoint either as he took 5 wickets in England’s 1^st innings which proved a match winning spell for Pakistan.
Tanvir got the reward for his patience in the series against South Africa. He has taken a dream start at Test cricket as he becomes the 6^th Pakistani bowler to have taken a 5 wicket haul in his 1^st Test. Tanvir also got a wicket in his 1^st over in Test cricket when Alviero Peterson edged a full-pitched out-swinger by Tanvir straight to the 1^st slip where Misbah ul Haq gladly pouched it. Tanvir took 2 more wickets in his opening spell. He was lucky as Hashim Amla was wrongly given caught behind when the ball had clearly brushed his back-thigh. Tanvir ended the 1^st innings with figures of 6 for 120 in 28 overs.
At 32, Tanvir might not have a long international career ahead of him but he can be very useful for Pakistan in the absence of Muhammad Amir and Muhammad Asif, especially when the tour to New Zealand starts next month where the conditions are generally helpful for the seam bowlers.