I've got a chance, won't let it go: Sohail Khan

I've got a chance, won't let it go: Sohail Khan
by Cricbuzz Staff • Last updated on Thursday, 04 August, 2016, 01:42 PM


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Sohail Khan, Pakistan's pacer, admitted to watching James Anderson's videos in order to prepare for the English tour. The 32-year-old bowler bagged five wickets on Day 1 as England were bowled out for 297 in the third Test at Edgbaston in Birmingham.

He accounted for four of the first five English wickets to fall, dismissing Alex Hales, Joe Root, James Vince and Johnny Bairstow, as their top-order was wiped off with only 158 runs on the board. He returned to trap James Anderson in front and end England's innings. He ended with career-best figures of 5 for 96.

"When I came here after I was named in the squad I watched James Anderson's videos, he bowls at 80 mph but gets eight to ten wickets every match," Sohail said on Wednesday (August 3). "I watched him and noticed that he doesn't try to bowl very fast. Mushy (Mushtaq Ahmed) also told me that if you don't bowl (too) fast and give the ball air, it will swing.

"I had played two Tests before and I was bowling inswing mostly," he said. "I tried to ball fast, I can still bowl fast, but then I met various coaches and they told me to bowl as per the conditions."

Sohail, who made his debut against Sri Lanka in 2009, had to wait for two years to play his second Test against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo. While his debut, in which he conceded 164 runs without bagging a wicket, was forgettable, the second Test wasn't much better with match figures of 1 for 81.

"I couldn't bowl well in my first Test in Karachi and some catches were also dropped off my bowling. I got my next chance in 2011 and there too I didn't do well," he admitted. "Now I have got another chance which I will not let go,"

Sohail got a chance to make a comeback in Tests after a four-year hiatus as Pakistan decided to drop Wahab Riaz following their series-levelling 330-run defeat at Old Trafford.

"You expect to do well every day but cricket is such a game that it can take you on a high one day and then you go down on a bad day. But if you work hard, and bowl a good line and length, then success comes and every day is a good day," the pacer concluded.

It does sound like he is determined to make sure that he makes the most of his chance, and I think a lot of cricketers fail to do that. When they are young sand playing well for their individual club teams, I think a lot of them just expect to be called up to the national team and when they are, they fail to grasp that opportunity with both hands. It's almost if once they have been called up they think that they have made it, ad their performances don't matter.