Imran Tahir's Long Journey from Lahore to Dream Debut at Feroz Shah Kotla
By Umer Tariq
14 years, 13 different domestic teams, 3 continents, 547 domestic wickets and a constant battle against the odds. But the moment to rejoice finally arrived for Imran Tahir as South Africa unleashed the Lahore born spin wizard on West Indies. And the hopes of Graeme Smith were reciprocated as Imran claimed 4 key West Indian wickets.
Imran started his first-class career in 1996-97 and went on to play for Pakistan Under 19 and the Pakistan A side. But he never got a chance to play for the Pakistan side due to the presence of spinners like Saqlain Muhstaq , Danish Kaneria and others.
On the 1998 tour to South Africa with the Pakistan Under 19 team Tahir met Summaya Dildar and fell in love. Imran returned to Pakistan but not his heart, he remained in touch with Summaya.
"I had to go back to Pakistan because I was a centrally contracted player and I was captain of my state team, Lahore, but we kept in touch over the years. I called her so many times in that time that there is no phone number I know better."
He got around 80 wickets in one domestic season in Pakistan but still couldn't impress the selectors and he decided to try his luck in South Africa. Imran admitted it was his dream to play for Pakistan and was disappointed that he had to move to South Africa.
"I was disappointed, being a Pakistani I should have played in Pakistan and it was my dream. But never mind, I think I’ve got a very good chance to play for South Africa and I know the people, it’s a beautiful country with beautiful people and hopefully I will make it. If not I’m still happy to play first class cricket there."
With his brilliant bowling in domestic cricket Tahir found admirers everywhere one of them being Alan Donald in his column in an Issue of SA Cricket he wrote:
"Tahir possesses a killer instinct and the variation to amplify his threat, and while you'll have to accommodate the fact that he may leak a few runs, he is a constant wicket-taking danger. During his time at Warwickshire I also saw first-hand that he has the mentality and the temperament for big games. He'd be my pick if the Proteas are looking to play an extra spinner [in the world Cup, ahead of Robin Peterson and Roelof van der Merwe]."
Eligibility Issues:
Tahir got selected for the South Africa squad to face England for the final test in January 2010 but his name was later withdrawn due to issues over his eligibility to play for South Africa. In December last year Tahir's hopes of playing for South Africa at the World Cup seemed bleak ,he had to prove to the Home Office that he is a skilled professional for that he was required to write an article stating what he can bring to South Africa.
He was finally granted South African citizenship on January 01 , that paved the way for his selection in the ODI squad to face India. But Graeme Smith didn't play Imran in any of the ODI's and kept back Imran so he could unleash his new weapon in the the World Cup.
Smith explained his decision of not selecting Tahir in any of the ODI's: " Tahir is someone we want to keep fresh and we didn't want to give people the opportunity to see too much of him."
And Finally the Debut !!
And the long awaited moment finally came for Imran today as he made his debut for South Africa , he was called in to bowl during the power play and conceded just two runs of his very first over in International Cricket.
He went for 11 of his second over and was taken out of the attack by Graeme Smith.
He came back after a few overs and struck !! Dismissing Devon Smith and kissed the South Africa badge. He was at it again in the very next over dismissing Sarwan and had a catch dropped of his bowling in the same over.
Imran ended with figures of 4-41 of his ten overs taking the scalps of Chanderpaul and Thomas as well.He praised the support shown to him by skipper Graeme Smith.
"Graeme had a lot of confidence in me. I bowled well in the second spell, some days you have a bad day, some day a good on, today was a good day," he said.
"In the powerplays, varying the pace is the key."
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| Imran's Moment to Rejoice ..... At last !! |
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| Imran in action for Pakistan A. |
On the 1998 tour to South Africa with the Pakistan Under 19 team Tahir met Summaya Dildar and fell in love. Imran returned to Pakistan but not his heart, he remained in touch with Summaya.
"I had to go back to Pakistan because I was a centrally contracted player and I was captain of my state team, Lahore, but we kept in touch over the years. I called her so many times in that time that there is no phone number I know better."
In 2006, Tahir returned to South Africa, under the influence of his friend Gulam Bodi, to marry Sumayya.
"Gulam is like my brother. He told me to come for trials at the Titans franchise. I met Richard Pybus there and I found out that he had coached Pakistan. They offered me a contract so I moved to South Africa. But the main reason I came back was to marry Sumayya."
He got around 80 wickets in one domestic season in Pakistan but still couldn't impress the selectors and he decided to try his luck in South Africa. Imran admitted it was his dream to play for Pakistan and was disappointed that he had to move to South Africa.
"I was disappointed, being a Pakistani I should have played in Pakistan and it was my dream. But never mind, I think I’ve got a very good chance to play for South Africa and I know the people, it’s a beautiful country with beautiful people and hopefully I will make it. If not I’m still happy to play first class cricket there."
With his brilliant bowling in domestic cricket Tahir found admirers everywhere one of them being Alan Donald in his column in an Issue of SA Cricket he wrote:
"Tahir possesses a killer instinct and the variation to amplify his threat, and while you'll have to accommodate the fact that he may leak a few runs, he is a constant wicket-taking danger. During his time at Warwickshire I also saw first-hand that he has the mentality and the temperament for big games. He'd be my pick if the Proteas are looking to play an extra spinner [in the world Cup, ahead of Robin Peterson and Roelof van der Merwe]."
Eligibility Issues:
Tahir got selected for the South Africa squad to face England for the final test in January 2010 but his name was later withdrawn due to issues over his eligibility to play for South Africa. In December last year Tahir's hopes of playing for South Africa at the World Cup seemed bleak ,he had to prove to the Home Office that he is a skilled professional for that he was required to write an article stating what he can bring to South Africa.
He was finally granted South African citizenship on January 01 , that paved the way for his selection in the ODI squad to face India. But Graeme Smith didn't play Imran in any of the ODI's and kept back Imran so he could unleash his new weapon in the the World Cup.
Smith explained his decision of not selecting Tahir in any of the ODI's: " Tahir is someone we want to keep fresh and we didn't want to give people the opportunity to see too much of him."
And Finally the Debut !!
He went for 11 of his second over and was taken out of the attack by Graeme Smith.
He came back after a few overs and struck !! Dismissing Devon Smith and kissed the South Africa badge. He was at it again in the very next over dismissing Sarwan and had a catch dropped of his bowling in the same over.
Imran ended with figures of 4-41 of his ten overs taking the scalps of Chanderpaul and Thomas as well.He praised the support shown to him by skipper Graeme Smith.
"Graeme had a lot of confidence in me. I bowled well in the second spell, some days you have a bad day, some day a good on, today was a good day," he said.
"In the powerplays, varying the pace is the key."
