Injured Tanvir hopeful of playing in IPL III

He was an instant hit in the inaugural IPL, but Pakistan all-rounder Sohail Tanvir's participation in third edition of the cash-rich event is still uncertain as he is fighting hard to recover in time from a knee injury that ruled him out of the ODI series Down Under.

Tanvir, playing for Rajasthan Royals, was the player-of-the-tournament in in the first edition of Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2008 and is hopeful of regaining his fitness before the lucrative Twenty20 tournament begins on March 12.

"I have a knee ligament problem that I have had before and it has not healed sufficiently to make myself available for the ongoing tour of Australia," he said.

Tanvir said he was disappointed to miss out on the chance to play the ODI in Australia as he has not played for Pakistan for a while now.

He said he had picked up the knee problem while doing fielding drills at the National Cricket Academy but hoped he would be fit in time for the IPL season.

The IPL has allowed nine Pakistan players, including Tanvir, Kamran Akmal, Misbah-ul-Haq to feature in the players auction on January 19. The players' agent Salman Ahmed informed that the three, who had had contracts in the first IPL season, has been allowed by the organisers to be bid in the players auction on January 19.

The left-handed all-rounder also pulled out of a contract with Victoria last month to play in the domestic Big Bash T20 tournament due to the same knee problem.

Tanvir said he was pretty disappointed at missing out on the contract with Victoria and also the ODI series against Australia but would soon resume playing in the domestic circuit to get back his place in the national team.

"There is lot of cricket coming up and I didn't want to risk playing when I am not fully match fit. I am confident that I will be fully fit and ready for the matches in the UAE next month and then of course the Twenty20 World Cup in May if selected," he said.

Pakistan plays two Twenty20 matches in Abu Dhabi and Dubai next month against England as part of its preparations for the T20 World Cup.