MLC 2023: Imran Tahir roped in by Texas Super Kings as replacement for Ambati Rayudu
Tahir played for CSK from 2018-2021 and was a part of their victorious campaigns in 2018 and 2021.
Former South Africa wrist spinner Imran Tahir has joined Texas Super Kings ahead of the inaugural season of the Major League Cricket beginning on July 13, 2023. Super Kings will be captained by former South Africa captain, Faf du Plessis. Notably, both du Plessis and Tahir have also represented the Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League.
Tahir played for CSK from 2018-2021 and was a part of their victorious campaigns in 2018 and 2021. The 44-year-old even finished as the leading wicket-taker of the 2019 season and won the coveted Purple Cap scalping 26 wickets in 17 matches at an average of 16.57 and an economy of 6.69.
Texas Super Kings took to Twitter to announce the exciting news for their fans. Furthermore, the franchise also shared a special video to welcome the spin wizard.
“Imran Tahir in yellow, again!" the MLC franchise wrote on their Twitter handle.
Tahir’s signing came after former India and Chennai Super Kings batter Ambati Rayudu withdrew from the tournament due to personal reasons. BCCI’s (Board of Control for Cricket in India) latest policy under which retired players must serve a one-year cooling-off period before joining foreign leagues, is being considered as the major reason behind Rayudu’s withdrawal.
Rayudu recently retired from all forms of Indian cricket after the final of IPL 2023, where he helped CSK beat Gujarat Titans by five wickets with his splendid cameo of 19 off 8 balls. Following his retirement, he was supposed to play in the MLC 2023, however, he withdrew his name just before the beginning of the tournament.
Imran Tahir joins former teammate David Miller at Texas Super Kings
Meanwhile, Texas Super Kings has assembled a star-studded squad for the inaugural season having likes of Devon Conway, David Miller, Dwayne Bravo, Daniel Sams, and Mitchell Santer in their team. And now they’ve roped in another CSK star in Imran Tahir who has played 27 matches for the franchise in the IPL and picked 35 wickets. Texas will kick off MLC 2023 with a game against Los Angeles Knight Riders at Grand Prairie on Thursday, July 13.
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