October 18, 2007	Thursday	Shawwal 5, 1428

LAHORE, Oct 17: Young fast bowling all-rounder Sohail Tanvir is all set to make his One day International debut in the first game of the five-match series which is scheduled to played between Pakistan and South Africa here on Thursday.

“It is my wish and desire to start my one-day career with a forceful performance and I am fully prepared for the Thursday tie,” a confident-looking Sohail told newsmen here on Wednesday.

The 22-year-old Rawalpindi born pacer made his Twenty-20 debut against India in the Twenty-20 World Cup last month in South Africa and went on to impress all and sundry with his bowling throughout the tournament and also with his batting in the final.

“It is a big honour for me to play for Pakistan and I will remember the that moment in my career when I took the field in the first Twenty20 game in South Africa,” said Sohail who has played only 17 first-class matches.

Sohail represented Pakistan Academy on their tour of Bangladesh early this year and his fine all-round performance on that tour and also against Australia A in the ODI series at home prompted the selectors to name him as Shoaib Akhtar’s replacement in the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 last month.

“I tried to give my best in the Twenty-20 but I know one-day cricket is quite different from that version of the game,” said the lanky fast bowler. “I need to display much more competitive abilities and skills to justify my selection in this series.”

Commenting on the strength of the current South African team, Sohail said” “They are very strong opponents and they exhibited their class in the Test matches. But I am really geared up to play my role in my team’s victory in the ODIs.”

Sohail said in the absence of Mohammad Asif, there will be tremendous responsibility on the remaining pacers. “Asif is a very fine bowler who can run through any side. We will be missing him a lot but will do our best to make things work for Pakistan.”—APP