Rahul Dravid's Wicket is the Most Memorable Delivery for Me: Sohail Tanvir

Pakistan fast bowler Sohail Tanvir’s wrong footed action was among the first things that caught the eye of the cricket fraternity. Tanvir played white ball cricket before progressing to Test cricket in 2007, and one of his fondest memories is that of going through the defenses of the normally gritty Rahul Dravid.

Recalling that Test in Delhi, Tanvir, who replaced the injured Umar Gul, said he had bowled the ball of his life to go through the defenses of Dravid.

“Initially I wasn’t a part of the squad. I was part of the ODIs. Umar Gul got injured accidentally. The way I got Dravid out on my debut, I still remember it was ‘ball of my life,’” said Tanvir in a YouTube show called ‘Cric Cast’.

Tanvir said, he drew inspiration from how Wasim Akram had once dismissed Dravid similarly.

“I remember Wasim Akram had once dismissed Dravid - with the same length, the same line, the same delivery. The ball swung from left stump and clipped off the off-stump. It was my dream delivery,” Tanvir said.

Dravid was dismissed for 38 in the first innings. Tanvir also cleaned up Sourav Ganguly (8) and Harbhajan Singh (1) in that innings.

He had picked up three wickets for 83 runs in the first innings and went wicketless in the second. India had gone on to win the match 6 wickets.

Even though India won the game, Tanvir has happy memories of playing against the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, and Sourav Ganguly.

“Bowling against the greats like Dravid, Sachin, Laxman, and Ganguly especially in India was remarkable. These are the guys that have made thousands of runs in Test cricket. They have so many achievements. Especially if you talk about Rahul Dravid, he was called the wall. Breaking through his defense was very hard, being a youngster, and especially it being a surprise call since I wasn’t prepared for the Test side at the time.

“My self-belief and confidence has helped me throughout my career. I bowled well in the first Test. I took three back-to-back wickets. I got Ganguly, Dravid and Harbhajan Singh out. I got our side back into that Test.”

Tanvir, however, did not play Test cricket after that series. He played just two Tests for Pakistan.

“Unfortunately my Test career ended there. That was very unfortunate. Even when I think about it today, I think I could have played a lot more Tests for Pakistan. People call me a T20 specialist and white-ball cricketer but nobody knows about my strengths. They don’t know what I am capable of with the red-ball. If you look at my stats or ask people I have played against, you can get an idea. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get many chances.”