Tanveer living the dream

Of the three uncapped players in Bangladesh's ODI squad for their first encounter against New Zealand, Tanveer Haider is one of them. The other two are Shubhashis Roy and Mehedi Hasan Miraz. With Bangladesh's pace department struggling, Shubhashis's inclusion was always on the cards while Mehedi's impressive performance in the Test series against England always gave him a good chance to make the cut.

It would be fair to say that Tanveer's inclusion in the 15-man squad was one of the more unexpected moves made by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) selectors.

Even a year ago, Tanveer was seen by many as one of those players who had passed his prime and would spend most of his time playing domestic cricket in Bangladesh. However, the sudden leap that he has made has made many curious regarding what he can offer.

Tanveer is primarily a batsman who bowls leg-breaks. According to the selectors he was picked because of his bowling. With no leg-spinners in the side, the team management hopes that the 25-year-old can fill that gap.

Tanveer, who has a bowling average of 35.14 in 43 List A games with 14 wickets, believes that he can spin his way into the team.

“It feels really good to get a chance in the national team. It was my dream ever since I was a child. I always wanted to play at the top level. Hopefully this dream of mine will get fulfilled. The team has a plan and if I get a chance I will try to bowl as per the demand of the team and live up

 to their expectations,” he said in an interview with the BCB media department yesterday.  

The first test for Tanveer will be to ace the practice match today against New Zealand XI. If he does well there, he might just find an unlikely place in the first ODI's playing 11.