Mahela Jayawardene praises Sohail Tanvir – Cricket News Update
The Sri Lankan skipper, Mahela Jayawardene, on Thursday lavished praise on Pakistan fast bowler Sohail Tanvir saying the left-arm pacer had improved a lot since the last time they had played him.
"We played Tanvir about three to four years ago but he wasn't accurate at the time. We were getting a lot of loose deliveries. Now he's got more control and a bit of pace as well,” said Jayawardene at the post-match press conference
on Thursday, after his side lost the ODI series opener to Pakistan by six wickets.
Tanvir, the 27-year-old Rawalpindi born medium pace bowler, has been troubling the Sri Lankan top order with his unusual action accompanied by the swing and movement. He was initially picked for the two-match T20 series against Sri
Lanka only, but after he finished as the joint leading wicket taker along with Nuwan Kulasekara and Mohammad Sami, the PCB selectors retained him for the five match ODI series as well.
Jayawardene said that swing and variation in Tanvir’s bowling is the biggest challenge for them at the moment and vowed to come up with a separate game plan in the next matches.
"We need to try and get a good rhythm going with him because he is unusual than the other bowlers,” said the home skipper. “So we need to make sure we tackle that swing first of all and at the same time the variation he has," he added
further.
During Thursday’s six-wicket win over the Islanders, Tanvir returned wicketless but played a crucial rule in containing the Sri Lankan batsmen while sharing the new ball with Umar Gul.
Spearhead pacer Umar Gul on the other hand, was deadly early on, claiming three quick wickets before the hosts had even put 25 runs on the board. The Peshawar-born right-handed medium pace bowler accounted for openers Mahela Jayawardene
(3), Tillakaratne Dilshan (5) and Dinesh Chandimal (0) in three successive overs, to leave the hosts reeling at 23 for 3 in the 9th over.
"I am happy with my performance. I am coming back after a long time. My body needs to bowl as much as possible,” said Gul at the post-match presentation ceremony adding that they will try to overcome cut down extras in the next games.
Pakistan bowler conceded 31 extras yesterday.
The next match between the two outfits will be played on June 9 at the same Pallekele venue.
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