Sohail Tanvir dropped from World Cup squad

E-Paper | June 13, 2026

Sohail Tanvir (centre) was called up to Pakistan's squad during the tour of New Zealand but has been dropped from the World Cup squad on fitness grounds. —Photo by AFP

KARACHI: Sohail Tanvir was on Wednesday, dropped from Pakistan’s World Cup squad after being declared unfit by the Pakistan Cricket Board.

“The medical panel thinks that though the recovery was good, it still thought Tanvir needs time to get fully fit before competing at international level,” the PCB said in a statement.

Pakistan is replacing Tanvir with left-arm paceman Junaid Khan, 21, who started with the Under-19s alongside promising teenage quick Mohammad Amir.

It will be Khan's debut for the senior Pakistan squad, although he has impressed selectors by amassing 167 wickets in just 35 first-class matches.

Tanvir, meanwhile, protested the decision, saying he is fully fit and prepared for cricket’s showpiece event.

He returned to the Pakistan squad for the tour of New Zealand after recovering from a chronic knee injury, which kept him in out of the national side for two years.

Pakistan play their first match of the World Cup on February 23, against Kenya, while they face Bangladesh on February 15 in a warm-up match in Mirpur.

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zeeshan

Feb 09, 2011 05:17pm

Anyone got any more info regarding the uncapped all-rounder Mr. Khan?

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Moez

Feb 09, 2011 06:28pm

read he bowls at 142kmph

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jagga

Feb 09, 2011 06:31pm

Sohail seemed really out of form...however, he is a good bowler, just needs time and there will be plenty of opportunity for him..

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Rizwan

Feb 09, 2011 06:49pm

I welcome the decision of PCB. Sohail Tanvir's performance in NZ was very ordinary. Good luck to Junaid Khan.

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Tiger Khan

Feb 09, 2011 06:53pm

This is one harsh decision by PCB. Pick Wahab Riaz or Sohail Tanvir in playing XI,thats understandable, but why kick Tanvir out of the 15-men squad and bring in a new face? He can bat well. Ok. His profile is good and can be found in the link below, but has he ever bowled to players like Ponting, Sachin, Trott? Even S.Ajmal got bashed by Hussey in T20 semis. we don't want that, right? I would be surprised if he play against big cricketing nations, may be against Kenya. Replacing W.Riaz with J.Khan would be hazardous. I hope W.Younus and Afridi choose playing XI.

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Tiger Khan

Feb 09, 2011 06:54pm

http://www.espncricinfo.com/pakistan/content/play...

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capricorn

Feb 09, 2011 07:23pm

i think Tanvir is a good bowler. He already proved his abilities in international cricket. Totally lack of planning.

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Hassan

Feb 09, 2011 07:37pm

Junaid Khan is from my village in District Swabi and I know him.He is such a pure talent,actually he is the replacement of Aamir.left high arm action,and his speciality is that he can seam and swing the ball both ways.

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Jawwad

Feb 09, 2011 07:49pm

Sohail Tanvir had been away from Cricket for a while and he never utilized his away time on his fitness. He never frequented any gyms or worked out with a trainer or played Cricket to keep himself in bowling rythm. He is best descibed as a lazy bum and really took the Pakistan cap for granted.

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Aamir

Feb 09, 2011 08:02pm

Why not Tanveer Ahmed who performed excellently in South Africa and New Zealand series and fully fit as well as in form. The selection is ignoring merit.

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Jamil

Feb 09, 2011 08:18pm

Good decision by PCB. He is not in form these days.

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Javed Afsar

Feb 09, 2011 08:21pm

This is a decision I was waiting for. honestly if I could bet on it i would have won it. Junaid Khan deserve a place in the national team and he will be amazing. He is quick and like any other Pathan aggresive. bring on the world cup.

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Javed Afsar Yousafza

Feb 09, 2011 08:22pm

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Ejaz Ahmed ( New Yor

Feb 09, 2011 08:28pm

Very good decision.We need young blood and new faces. We should have included Abdul Haque the fast bowler from Waziristan. I am sure this new guy will be very successful in the World Cup. This is because nobody knows how he bowls. Try him first in the warm up match with Bangladesh and again with Kenya.

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Kamran

Feb 09, 2011 08:51pm

Good decision by PCB, which does not happen very often.

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amir

Feb 09, 2011 08:54pm

Tanvir was a good bowler while he had the element of surprise. At top level once you are found out, there is no hiding.. We all saw that in New Zealand.. He will never be a great bowler. Pakistan has a history of producing mid level bowlers.. Junaid can not do anything worse than what we saw Tanvir do .. So good luck to him. Maybe the element of surprise will help the Pakistan side more than Tanvir..

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naeem

Feb 09, 2011 09:04pm

I agree. Tanveer Ahmad also bowls with a good accurate line and length unlike Sohail Tanvir who had never impressed me. His bowling action may be confusing for the batsmen on paper but never made any difference in practical.

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Muhammad Asad

Feb 09, 2011 09:06pm

It would be good for Pakistan. Tanvir is not in his previous form as far as bowling are concern. In previous tour he shows some good batting, but in bowling he took 4 wickets by giving 240 runs in 5 matches against New Zealand and become must expensive bowler of mentioned tour. On other side, Junaid is new but he shows some good bowling against Srilanka A and West-indies A in past few years.

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Ghulam Hussain

Feb 10, 2011 01:44am

Sohail Tanveer did not look a great player but was a hard working on for sure. I saw Sohail in the Newzeland series. I have never saw Junaid Khan in my life and cannot comment on his selection. Hope the new young fellow has the element of extraordinary in him. I just dont care as long as the team does good in the world cup. I WANT TO WINNNN!!!)

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Tariq K Sami

Feb 10, 2011 03:21am

I thought Anwar Ali deserved to be given a chance. See him in action in U-19 against India.

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Khalid Sami

Feb 10, 2011 08:48am

This is a good move by PCB. Sohail is a great bowler with speed variation and left hander's guile but unfortunately he is not 100%. Shoaib Akhtar also is not fit, in SL humid condition it will not work. PCB be bold lets get Anwar Ali, Sohail Khan, Rana Naved ---- any for him??? Or be like England carry another person who gets aclimatised if some one gets injured to replace in the squad.

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MOHAMMED AZAM SHAH

Feb 10, 2011 01:07pm

WE PEOPLE ARE UPSET BUT BECAUSE WE ARE NOT SEE SOHAIL TANVIR ON THE GROUND.PCB TAKE A GOOD DECISION TO GIVEN THE CHANCE BY JUNAID KHAN HE IS GRATE MAN ALL THE BEST FOR PAK TEAM

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khurram

Feb 10, 2011 03:38pm

A NEW DISCOVERY IS GOING TO TAKE PLACE ANOTHER GR8 OF CRICKET IS JUST ON THE ROAD

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airaj

Feb 11, 2011 10:33am

The reality is Sohail Tanvir is just an ordinary bowler who has "no" rhythm, "no" line, and "no" variations. He has bowled more wides and no balls in his last 30 matches than any other bowler. He has proven expensive like Shoaib but Shoaib is a wicket taker and has the ability to create panics with speeds upto 150 KPH. Afridi have him Razzaq's overs in the last NZ match just to kick him out or keep him away from the world cup squad, I am happy he succeeded but also unhappy we lost the match due to his 78 plus runs in 9 overs that could have been avoided. This is the "first" PCB decision I am agreeing to ....

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Bishnujee Singh

Feb 12, 2011 02:23am

People should not forget that even he won't the game with his bat in one of decider One day in New Zealand.Also the guy was Player of the Tournament in IPL.One or 2 series bad doesn't makes him ordinary bowler.Hopefully he should be excellent bowler after regaining confidence at home.

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farooq 6129

Feb 12, 2011 09:46am

Junaid khan was a good Bowler. Good luck junaid khan.

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Khurram

Feb 20, 2011 02:10am

i think it was not a good decison soahil tanvir is a good all rounder he can bat very well puting him in a squad pakistan bating line looks very degerous and according to asian wickets we need more good bats man and difrent type of bowler like tanvir he can be very usefull in asian wickets. he showed his performance and give us wonderful win agenst newzeland i bat if he did not hit three fours in that match then we weill surly lose that match on that day coz misbah is not relible as we all know he take pakistani team very close to win but he definatly lose the match in last over e.g. he did in T20 world cup final. Kher jet ki saza toh sohail ko deni thi toh mil gai ab kar lo jo karna hai!

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