Tanvir cites Warne influence on captaincy

Sohail Tanvir has said his experience in the IPL with Rajasthan Royals back in 2008 helped him captain Rawalpindi Rams to victory in the Faysal Bank Super Eight T20 Cup. Tanvir, who was the leading wicket-taker in the first IPL and scored the winning runs in the final, made special mention of Shane Warne, his captain at Rajasthan.

"My experience of playing under Warne helped me," Tanvir told the Express Tribune. "As a captain you must be on your toes when you need to make important decisions. I gave my players much-needed confidence and they performed to the best of their ability."

One of the features of Rawalpindi's run in the tournament was that they relied on their young players to perform at crucial times, something Warne has always encouraged at Rajasthan. Jamal Anwar, Rawalpindi's 20-year-old wicketkeeper, was their leading run-getter in the tournament and Man of the Match in their upset of Lahore Lions in the semi-finals. Raza Hasan, the 18-year-old left-arm spinner, took the second-highest number of wickets in the tournament with 11 at an average of 11.27 and economy rate of 6.20.

Tanvir gave Hasan the responsibility of bowling the Super Over in the final, against Karachi Dolphins, and he delivered, giving away just seven runs to secure victory for Rawalpindi. "I was supposed to bowl the Super Over but I gave it to Hasan only because of his high confidence."

Rawalpindi were underdogs in the tournament, but won convincingly against favourites Lahore before holding their nerve in the thrilling final against Karachi. Tanvir said the best thing about the Twenty20 format was that it gave everyone a chance. "This is a modern format of the game and is tough. We were the underdogs but still managed to win through hard work. This is the beauty of Twenty20."