Not here to prove himself, says Rising Pune Supergiant leg-spinner Imran Tahir

South African Imran Tahir has undoubtedly been the most successful bowler for the Rising Pune Supergiant in this season of the IPL. With 16 wickets in the bag, Tahir stands second in line for the Purple Cap, behind SRH pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Tahir has been instrumental in RPS’ success this season, who currently find themselves at the 4th position. The Supergiant are well on course to book a spot in the playoffs.

The leg-spinner is the only RPS bowler to feature in the top 10 wicket takers this season and speaks volumes of his capacity with the ball. However, Tahir surprisingly went unsold in the IPL 2017 auction, and was later roped in by the Rising Pune Supergiant setup as a replacement for injured Mitchell Marsh.

Indeed Tahir was upset about not being selected in the auction, but he brushed those woes aside by saying, “There were a lot bigger challenges I have had. I lost my parents and I don’t think there can be anything harder than that.”

“I don’t like to say that I am here to prove myself. There are people in the world who don’t have food to eat, so I will be the last one to complain. I am grateful to god for everything that I have. I used to work at a shop and coming here and complaining is not me,” Tahir added.

In his teenage years, he worked as a salesman at a retail shop in Lahore. He also represented Pakistan in the 1998 Under-19 World Cup before shifting to South Africa. Today, Tahir has developed into not only one of the most successful leg-spinners in the world, but also a cricketer who exudes tremendous dedication and passion towards the game.

His forte is the variety he has on offer with the ball, and having identified his strength, the leggie has worked hard at bettering his skills. “All the bowlers are different. I can’t be Shane Warne and he can’t be someone else. He had the ability to spin the ball, he was master of spin. But I don’t have that ability (to turn the ball) and I admit that,” Imran Tahir said.

“When I started bowling, working on the variations was the only option for me since I didn’t have a big leg spinner or the slider. I felt I should have options of bowling a small leg-spinner or a big one if at all I needed to bowl leg spin. I also knew that I needed to learn to bowl googly from top, middle, sideways (other than) to know how to bowl my sliders, my flippers or whatever,” the leg-spinner said.

“In modern cricket, it is very hard if you have one or two balls. You either spin the ball like Warne or have variations like Abdul Qadir,” he added.

Along with his success in the ongoing IPL, Tahir is also excited about the proposed Global Destination League in South Africa. He has been chosen as one of the marquee players for the proposed T20 tournament which is scheduled to kick off in November this year.

“This is the right time to have a league (in SA). We have a right environment, have the best grounds in the world and South Africa has a great atmosphere for cricket,” he said.

“It is good for the cricket in the country, for the people, especially for the youngsters. Many of our youngsters go overseas to play cricket. This league will help them play and earn at home,” Tahir concluded.