Tanveer Tweaks His Style To Shine 

Left-arm Tanvir Islam was the architect of Comilla Victorians’ title win in the last BPL. The left-arm spinner was the highest wicket-taker of the tournament with 17 wickets. 

However, Tanveer remained a pale shadow of him in Comilla’s first four matches in this year’s BPL but on Friday (February 2) in a spin-friendly wicket Tanveer turned out to be dangerous against Chattogram Challengers that helped them to earn a easy win and climb to third in the points table with 3 wins in 5 matches.

Tanveer is always an effective spinner on good wickets. And if the wicket extends a helping hand, then there is no question and he showed the magic of the whirling ball. With a combination of great length, turn and variation of pace, this left-arm spinner wrecked through the Challengers top order as he bowled 4 consecutive overs and took 4 wickets with only 13 runs. This is his career best bowling in T20.

Another spinner Aliss Al Islam took 2 wickets with 14 runs. Chittagong all out for the lowest 72 runs in this year’s BPL bowling by the duo. The highest 27 runs of Chittagong innings came from the bat of Tom Bruce. Comilla chased down that run losing 3 wickets in 9.2 overs. Towhid Hridoy scored 31 runs off 13 balls for Comilla. Tanveer was man of the match.

“The wicket is a little flat in night matches. Today was a little turning. Salahuddin Sir told me that you can turn the ball so pitch it up and if you can give some air in the air it will benefit me,” Tanveer told the broadcaster.

Tanveer changed his natural length on the advice of the coach as he decided to bowl fuller and it earned him success.

“I tried to bowl as much as fuller as possible. The batsman should play forward. Then there will be a chance. The rest is God’s will,” he added.

Tanveer picked five wickets in the first four matches of this year’s BPL. Despite getting regular wickets, the left-hander could not give a match-winning performance. 

Comilla head coach Mohammad Salahuddin also wanted to drop him. 

 ‘I was thinking of dropping him. Tanveer has always…given us great service for the last 2 years,” said Salahuddin.

Tanveer bowls spin with some pace and that is the reason it is not easy to play Tanveer even on a batting friendly wicket. Because of the action and inherent length, it is difficult to play out of the crease like other spinners. 

Bowling will be slow, the ball will come floating in the air – this traditional idea of spin bowling is completely reversed in Tanveer’s bowling. This 27-year-old spinner has now made it to the T20 team of Bangladesh by fighting against this traditional idea of cricket.

Comilla’s coaching staff has played a role in Tanveer’s success. They did not want to change the bowling on the power of his bowling. On the contrary, Salahuddin taught him how to use it better. Analyzing Tanveer’s bowling yesterday, Salahuddin said, ‘His strength is his spin. Those who spin have a chance. Looking at the wicket in the previous match, I thought it would spin at night. I did not expect to say so bravely. Because it adapts quickly, that is the quality. It doesn’t have to be the same every day. Be it a batsman or a bowler has to adapt to the wicket. He has shown maturity, has understood how to bowl on the wicket.’

Giving further examples of Tanveer’s transformation, Salahuddin added, ‘Today seems to have hit the ball in a good place. The ball is understood by the wicket. That is the problem with our boys, the wicket does not understand. How to bowl on which wicket? He did badly in the previous matches. I wasn’t too happy. Balled very well today, hit the seam. The biggest thing is that the wicket has understood, boldly bowled.’

Skipper Liton Das also heaped praise on Tanveer. After the match, he came to the award distribution stage and said, ‘I was a little surprised. I saw him get a big turn. Then I thought today is Tanveer’s day. And he did his job very well.’

The captain of the opposing team, Shuvagoto Hom, also said that it was Tanveer who turned the match around, ‘Tanveer bowled well. The bowlers got help on today’s wicket too.  His ball was gripping well and it was coming after stopping for a while. Tanveer bowled very well. His spell has put us on the back foot,” said Shuvagoto.

Like last season, Tanveer alone is handling the spin bowling of the star-studded Victorians team. Tanveer was called upon to stop the run, even after taking the wicket. Tanveer’s 4 overs are used in power play and middle overs. Like last time, Tanveer’s name is now shining on the list of wicket takers of BPL. The great Dhaka pacer Shariful Islam tops the list of wicket takers with 10 wickets, followed by Tanveer with 9 wickets. Star spinners like Sunil Narine and Moeen Ali will play for Comilla again this time. But they will join the team towards the end of the tournament. Before that, Comilla’s bowling will be led by only one person – Tanveer.