Imran Tahir happy with his Test debut – Cricket News Update
South Africa’s leg-break bowler, Imran Tahir, expressed massive excitement after representing his country against Australia in the recently finished Test series.
Tahir, who impressed everyone with his smart bowling against the Aussies, said that participating in the longer format of game has always been a dream for him.
“It was a dream for me to play Test cricket, and playing Australia was amazing. It was quite a series, and it was a bit sad that it was over so quickly,” the right-arm spinner shared while talking to the media.
Tahir, who was born in Lahore, has been playing in the domestic ranks of Pakistan; however, he failed to pave his way into the national squad of his homeland, which forced him to shift in South Africa.
Despite not impressing Pakistan’s selectors in the recent times, he managed to perform brilliantly in the South African domestic circuit, which helped him impress the Proteas selectors.
Meanwhile, the selection committee selected the 32-year-old leg spinner in the Proteas squad for the ICC World Cup earlier this year.
Tahir bowled outstandingly during the mega event, picking 14 wickets in 5 matches, and amazed everyone with his lethal leg-spin bowling.
Following an impressive stint in the World Cup, he represented Hampshire during the recently concluded English County season.
The attacking spinner helped his side qualify for the semi final of the Friends Life Twenty20 Championship, picking 17 wickets with an economy of 5.97 in his 10 appearances.
Meanwhile, Tahir also performed marvellously during the County Championship Division one, taking 28 wickets in 8 matches.
Coming back to the recent competition against Australia, the leggy took 4 wickets in a 2-match Test series.
He was not impressive in terms of stats, as most of the times the Proteas pacers did the job for the team, but the way he enabled himself to cope with the pressure of playing International cricket was terrific.
The versatile leggy also claimed that he successfully managed to deal with the pressure as he knew the importance of his inclusion in the Test side.
“I guess it was a different kind of pressure, because my role in a five-day game is very important,” Tahir added.