'It was disappointing to miss IPL 2'

When he arrived, Sohail Tanvir took Twenty20 cricket by storm.

Originally selected in place of the erratic Shoaib Akhtar for the Twenty20 World Cup in 2007, left-armer Tanvir impressed everyone by taking six wickets in six games.

But his best was to come in the augural Indian Premier League later that year, when his haul of 22 wickets from 11 matches took Rajasthan Royals to the title. Quite deservedly, he was the one, who hit the winning runs and was also awarded the Purple Cap for the being the top wicket-taker.

However, the evils of terrorism saw Pakistan miss out on cricketing action at home and political pressures saw the Pakistani players forced to miss out on IPL's second season.

The Rawalpindi-born 24-year-old also had to face the ignominy of watching Pakistan's Twenty20 World Cup victory last month from the sidelines.

Tanvir says his poor form in that tournament was due to his poor match fitness, due to which he was only selected for two games.

However, he says all his fitness woes are behind him and is eager to prove himself when he turns out for Rajasthan Royals in the British Asian Challenge match against Middlesex Panthers at Lord's in London, on Monday.

In an exclusive conversation with Chief Correspondent Harish Kotian, Pakistan and Rajasthan Royals's pace ace Sohail Tanvir reveals his disappointment at missing IPL second season.

How does it feel to be back for Royals after missing IPL 2?

It is a really good feeling to be back with the team, who give me such a big lift in my career.

After playing in the first season of the IPL, you can say I became a star after that. I missed my team in the second season of the IPL.

What was the secret of your success in season 1, where you finished as the top wicket-taker?

There were a few reasons. I think I bowled really cleverly and mixed my pace quite well, while also varying my length.

You have to be clever if you want success in T20 cricket.

Most of the people say T20 is a batsman's game but nowadays bowlers are proving that it is not only a batsman's game.

You saw it in the Twenty20 World Cup as well where it was bowler's game and no team was able to score more than 160 or 170.

It was only low scoring games in the tournament.

In short, I worked really and had certain plans and it all worked.

How much hard work goes into a Twenty20 match as compared to a Test or an ODI?

I know it is only four overs to bowl, but we have to put a lot of energy into those four overs.

I think it is more hustle than a 50-over game.

And does it involve a lot of planning as well?

Yes, obviously.

You have to change your plan every over because the game changes with every ball. The captain should be really on the ball every second.

How disappointing was it to sit at home and watching the IPL second season for reasons not under your control?

It was very disappointing.

To be honest, I never imagined when I was playing the first season that I would not be able to play the second season.

But unfortunately things didn't go our way and I just could not do anything.

I was really disappointed that I didn't get a chance to defend my purple cap.

How important is this one-off Twenty20 British Asian Challenge match against Middlesex in terms of proving a point because you didn't play IPL 2 and then played just two games in Pakistan's T20 World Cup win?

I am running in very bad form nowadays and that is because I had a back injury.

That was the reason for my poor performance recently.

I know I was not on the mark as per my usual standards in Twenty20 cricket. It does happen.

Every player has good and bad times and I think those are my bad times.

But this match is a good opportunity for me to prove myself because now I am fit, super fit to be precise.

I had some treatment on my back, put in a lot of hard work for my bowling and I am back now.

So this is the opportunity to prove myself and I hope I can do a good job for my team again.

You have done well very in Twenty20 cricket. But as a bowler, which format of the sport you prefer playing?

I am sure every cricketer loves to play in Test cricket and perform in Test cricket.

I think Test cricket is the real format. If you want to check the records, everybody goes by the Test record.

I would love to place Test cricket above all format.

But every format has different kinds of challenges for the players.

If you take Twenty20 format, it is a good format for the spectators. People love watching Twenty20 cricket for the entertainment but the real cricket fans love to watch Test cricket.

Tell us how important was the Twenty20 World Cup victory for Pakistan, who really didn't much international cricket before that?

It was a very important victory for Pakistan cricket and the people of Pakistan.

The whole nation was struggling at that moment and they need something to cheer about. I think this victory has lifted the status of Pakistan cricket.

The future of cricket in Pakistan is real bright now. It was going down after the March incident in Lahore when the Sri Lankan team was attacked.

That incident was really and Pakistan cricket future was looking down. But now after winning the T20 World Cup, we will get some hype and some cricket at home.

Immediately after winning the T20 World Cup, captain Younis Khan said all teams must now come and play in Pakistan. Do you think the situation is better now in your country to play cricket?

Now, the ICC has to think about this.

The tag of world champions is a real big honour. You see we could not make it to the second season for the IPL, but now everyone has to think about us.

You cannot corner the Pakistan players now and you cannot take us out of any competition.

So, you want to play the World Cup at home in front of your home fans?

Obviously, cricketers love to play at their home ground and in front of their own fans.

But unluckily the circumstances were not really good due to which teams did not come to play in Pakistan.

We would definitely love to play World Cup in our country and give our fans a lot to cheer for.

Tell us about your T20 World Cup triumph because at one point you were on the verge of being knocked out but after a few days you shocked everyone to win the title. How did the turnaround happen?

I think the Pakistan cricket team always performs well under pressure. We were struggling two or three times during the tournament.

We lost to England and then had to beat the Netherlands by a big margin in the group stages.

After that in the Super Eights, we lost to Sri Lanka and we were in a touch and go position and needed to win both our matches.

I believe the match against New Zealand was the turning point.

After that we got a real boost from that crushing victory over New Zealand and we just carried on with the confidence.

You were the highest wicket-taker in the first season of IPL. But during the T20 World Cup, you were played in only two matches. Were you disappointed that you didn't get more opportunities to prove yourself?

I played two games in the tournament and I think I bowled really well against the Netherlands, which was a crucial match for us.

In the second match against Sri Lanka, I bowled really poorly.

But to be honest I was struggling with my fitness and I think that was the reason for my poor showing.

After that match, Mohammad Aamer and Abdul Razzaq bowled really well in the remaining matches and that is why I could not break into the team.

As a player, I was really disappointed to be sitting out and just watch the games from the bench, especially the semi-finals and final.

If you remember, I was part of the team in the semi-final and final in the first Twenty20 World Cup in 2007.

I also was a part of the semi-final and final for Rajasthan Royals in the first season of IPL. Infact, I was one of the key players for Rajasthan in that tournament and had also hit the winning runs in the final.

It was a disappointment for me, but it does happen to every player.

I am really hopeful that I will be able to get out of it and this match is the good opportunity to show my form is back.

How much credit would you give to captain Shane Warne in Rajasthan's IPL victory in the first season?

There were quite a few reasons for our success in season one and Warne's captaincy was one of them.

He is a real motivator. The way he motivated the guys I think that was really great.

He used all his players really well because he was aware of which player was good for a particular situation.

The way he got out performances from the youngsters, I must say that was really great.

Warne had roles for every player in season one. What was the particular that was assigned to you?

My role was to take wickets with the new ball.

He always used to tell me get one or two wickets in your first two overs, which I think I did in every game. So that was my role and I did a good job.

Tell us where did you learn this strange bowling action of yours because no other international bowler uses the wrong foot while delivering the ball?

It is totally natural and nobody can develop it.

So many people have asked about my action but nobody has been able to develop it.

I started playing cricket really late. I used to play with tape ball cricket and there is no coach for tape ball cricket.

When I went to the NCA [National Cricket Academy] I learnt a lot and started playing first class cricket in 2005-06.

Aquib Javed and Wasim Akram saw me at the NCA but by then it was too late to change my action.

I don't think there is no need to change my action because I get a lot of advantages from it. I think I get swing because of my action.

There are some disadvantages as well because I picked up back injury due to my action as the whole load while bowling falls on my left side.

There are some advantages and some disadvantages but overall I am happy to continue bowling the way I am doing it at the moment.

Who do you think is the most destructive batsman in Twenty20 cricket today?

I would pick Tillakaratne Dilshan above others because he proved himself during the T20 World Cup.

Sanath Jayasuriya, Adam Gilchrist, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Ross Taylor, Shane Watson, AB de Villiers, Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal and many more players.

I think every team has one or two dangerous batsmen who can change the match in just a few overs.