Karachi: He has been dropped from Pakistan's World Cup squad due to injury but pacer Sohail Tanvir insists he is fit to play and should have been retained in the side for the quadrennial event starting February 19 in the sub-continent.
The Pakistan cricket Board on Wednesday dropped the unorthodox bowler from the 15-member squad on the recommendations of the national team management, a medical panel and the selection committee and replaced him with rookie left arm pacer Junaid Khan.
Tanvir, who has so far claimed 48 wickets in 36 ODIs, said, "I don't know why they dropped me and the selectors should tell me the reason because I was fit and getting better in bowling and fielding.
"It is hugely disappointing to be dropped from a major event like the World Cup at the last moment," Tanvir told The Express.
Tanvir was dropped after playing in five of the six one-day internationals in New Zealand.
Justifying its decision to omit Tanvir, the PCB said the medical panel had examined the 26-year-old bowler and decided he was not 100 percent fit to play at the top level.
"He still requires time to make a complete recovery from his knee problem for which he had an operation sometime back," PCB said in a statement.
Chief selector, Mohsin Khan said that it was on the recommendations of the team management that the pacer was dropped from the squad.
"The team management spoke to the board Chairman expressing its concerns over Tanvir's fitness. Subsequently the medical panel examined him and declared he was not fully fit.
"The team management felt that Tanvir was struggling while fielding because of his knee problem.
"Junaid Khan was called up because of his fine performances in domestic cricket," Mohsin revealed.
Meanwhile former test batsman, Basit Ali cautioned that Junaid was too raw and not ready for the international cricket.
"It would have been better if they had included Muhammad Yousuf in place of Tanvir. They already have too many pacers in the side and on the pitches in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh you don't need so many pacers," Basit said. PTI
