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Tanvir absolutely superb: Warne

G. Viswanath

Dhoni says the pace bowler’s effort is going to be a record for some time

Tanvir can surprise you with action, pace, swing and cut
He is the best seamer in the IPL

Jaipur: Left-arm seamers are a rare breed. Just like their batting counterparts who bring in an element of style and charm also in the form of fierce cuts and pulls, those who operate with the ball offer a unique appeal to the spectators and question the batsmen.

Sohail Tanvir was simply terrific, not only for being responsible for causing the rout of Chennai Super Kings with six for 14, but also for the manner of bowling, quite obvious being running in from over the wicket, staying close to the stumps and releasing the ball superbly.

Chief weapon

Approaching the bowling crease from the right side of the umpire, they straightaway bring a critical change in angle at the point of delivery. Tanvir turned out to be Rajasthan Royals’ and Shane Warne’s chief weapon. Tanvir was right on the spot from ball one and even before Parthiv Patel could get his footwork organised, he was on his way back stunned.

Zaheer Khan and Rudra Pratap Singh bowled around the wicket on the last tour of England and defeated the batsmen in the air and off the pitch. On Sunday at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium, Tanvir caused the downfall of four left-handers.

Perfect rhythm

Bowling wicket-to-wicket, Tanvir won a leg-before appeal against Stephen Fleming in the fifth ball of his first over. S. Vidyut perished to a delivery that landed at back of a length, climbed and seamed away before taking the edge to Warne at second slip.

It was one of those days, when Tanvir “got his rhythm” as K. Srikkanth put it before leaving for Chennai on Monday morning.

The Royals skipper Warne said “Tanvir was absolutely superb. He can surprise you with action, pace, swing and cut. He’s fantastic for us. We summed up the conditions pretty early.

“We decided to play like four-day cricket, line and length with the odd bouncer and get the nick. We got a couple of catches today. Our plan was not to do too much like wide of the crease and different type of things. It was just sticking to the basics and exploiting the conditions.”

Tanvir has played two Tests, both against India and picked up five wickets at 63.20, but he has been quite impressive in one-day internationals, capturing 24 wickets at 25-plus.

A good team

“He’s the best seamer in the IPL. We are not a group of individuals with three or four super stars, we are really a good team and that’s the beauty of it. We draw plans and prepare hard and everyone wants to do that. We know what we want to achieve and we are quietly going to do our business.

“Every game is a big game. If we can beat Mumbai, it would leave a gap between the top team and the fifth placed. We also have two big home games after the match against Mumbai and hence it’s going to be a big week for the Royals.”

M.S. Dhoni, skipper, Chennai Super Kings, said: “Tanvir was brilliant and we were outplayed. He has achieved the best in the competition and that’s going to be a record for some time.”

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