Imran Tahir

Imran Tahir Biography

If you want a modern-day fairytale, look no further than Imran Tahir. He did not hail from a rich family, and had to work as a retail salesman in Pace Shopping Mall, Lahore. However, he did persist with cricket: inspired and coached by Abdul Qadir, he took to leg-spin, and made it to the Pakistan Under-19s squad for the 1996-97 tour of South Africa. He fell in love with one Sumayya Dildar there.

He played domestic cricket in Pakistan till the mid-2000s before having stints with both Middlesex and Yorkshire. He later played for Warwickshire and Hampshire as well. In between all this, he moved to South Africa and completed his four-year residence requirement in 2009, thus becoming eligible to represent the country — and married Sumayya.

He eventually made his debut in the 2011 World Cup, and from the very onset it was evident that he was special. He had a potent leg-break, had variations in pace and flight, but his most dangerous weapon was almost certainly the googly.

He lived up to his hype as a mystery spinner, taking 11 wickets from his first 3 matches. Unlike some others who bore that tag, Tahir retained that aura, troubling batsmen across the world with his incredible repertoire.

His most significant spell was his 4 for 45 in the 2015 World Cup quarter-final that knocked Sri Lanka out of the tournament. It was the first time in their history that South Africa won a knockout match in tournament. His World Cup record, 29 wickets from 13 matches at 16.31 and an economy of 4.06, bears testimony to his impact on the batsmen.

The next year he took 7 for 45 against West Indies at Basseterre, becoming the first South African to take 7 wickets in an ODI. These days he typically bowls the middle overs, putting a stranglehold on batsmen just when they decide to focus on singles.

He has spectacular T20I numbers too. Just like ODIs, he has reserved his best for the grand stage: from: his 9 World T20 appearances have fetched him 18 wickets at less than 12, and he goes for under 6 an over.

It took him six years since debut to zoom to ICC’s No. 1-ranked spot for bowlers in both ODIs and T20Is. He achieved the latter with 5 for 24 against New Zealand at Auckland in 2016-17, becoming the first South African spinner to take 5 wickets in a T20I.

His superlative performances won him plenty of offers from T20 overseas franchises, including three English counties, two IPL teams, and perhaps the sweetest of all — Lahore Lions, from the city of his birth.

Tahir has also attained cult status of sorts with his unique celebrations that involves running with a mission to perhaps reach the end of the world (thankfully, his colleagues prevent him every time), a quirk that gave rise to several internet memes. Despite his idiosyncrasies and the aggression of a fast bowler, Tahir remains an immensely popular man.

Perhaps the only glitch in his career has been his inability to eplicate his superlative limited-overs performances in Test cricket. He did have his moments (5 for 32 and 3 for 98 against Pakistan at Dubai in 2013-14, 2 for 23 and 4 for 48 at Mohali and 1 for 41 and 5 for 38 at Nagpur, both against India in 2015-16), but consistency has remained evasive.

Abhishek Mukherjee

Imran Tahir Batting & Fielding Averages

Career	M	In	R	NO	HS	Avg	BF	SR	100s	50s	4s	6s	Ct	St
Test	20	23	130	9	29*	9.285	235	55.31	0	0	18	1	8	0
ODIs	85	28	128	12	29*	8.000	182	70.32	0	0	18	1	17	0
T20s	36	3	18	2	9*	18.00	17	105.8	0	0	1	1	7	0
World Cup	13	4	9	2	8*	4.500	18	50.00	0	0	1	0	4	0

Imran Tahir Bowling Averages

Career	M	B	R	W	Avg	EC	SR	5WI	10WM	BBI	BBM
Test	20	3925	2294	57	40.24	3.506	68.	2	0	5/24	8/130
ODIs	85	4419	3449	139	24.81	4.683	31.79	2	0	4/21	4/21
T20s	36	797	904	57	15.85	6.805	13.98	1	0	2/12	2/13
World Cup	13	695	473	29	16.31	4.083	23.96	1	--	4/41	4/21

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