Imran Tahir facts for kids

Mohammad Imran Tahir (born 27 March 1979) is a former international cricket player for South Africa. He is a spin bowler who mostly bowls googlies (a special type of delivery). He also bats right-handed. Tahir played for South Africa in all three main types of cricket matches.

Imran Tahir is famous for his exciting running celebration after taking a wicket (when a batsman is out). He calls it "The Marathon."

On 15 June 2016, Tahir became the first South African bowler to take seven wickets in a ODI match. He was also the fastest South African to reach 100 ODI wickets, doing it in just 58 matches. He holds the record for the most wickets taken by a spin bowler for South Africa in both ODIs and T20Is.

In 2017, Tahir quickly reached 50 T20I wickets. He also set a record for the most economical bowling by a South African spinner in an ODI. This means he gave away very few runs while taking wickets. In October 2018, he achieved a hat-trick in an ODI, taking three wickets in three balls. He announced his retirement from ODI cricket after the 2019 Cricket World Cup.

Early Life and Cricket Journey

Imran Tahir was born in Lahore, Pakistan. He learned to play cricket there as he grew up. As the oldest child, he started working at 16 as a salesman to help his family.

His cricket career changed when he was chosen to play for the Pakistan Under-19 team. He later played for the Pakistan A side on some tours. However, he did not get to play for the main Pakistan national team.

Tahir then moved to South Africa. South Africa needed good spin bowlers at the time. He played domestic cricket there for five years. He became a resident of South Africa in 2005. He married Sumayya Dildar, a South African woman. After living in South Africa for four years, he became eligible to play for their national team in 2009.

Playing for Different Teams

Besides playing first-class matches in Pakistan, Imran Tahir has played for many teams. These teams are located in South Africa, India, and England.

He has played for eight different English county teams. These include Derbyshire, Durham, Hampshire, Middlesex, Nottinghamshire, Surrey, Warwickshire, and Yorkshire. He also played for Staffordshire in a smaller cricket league.

In 2009, Tahir was part of the Hampshire team that won the Friends Provident Trophy. He took two wickets in the final match. In 2010, he played for Warwickshire. He then returned to Hampshire and played there until 2014.

Tahir played his 100th first-class match in 2009/2010 for the Titans team. In 2010, he moved to the Dolphins team to get more chances to play first-class cricket. He has played for a record number of 27 teams around the world. In 2012, he joined the Highveld Lions.

Playing in T20 Leagues

Imran Tahir has been a popular player in many Twenty20 (T20) cricket leagues around the world.

In January 2018, the Chennai Super Kings team bought him for the Indian Premier League (IPL). In the 2019 IPL season, he took 26 wickets. This made him the top wicket-taker, and he won the Purple Cap award.

In October 2018, he was chosen for the Nelson Mandela Bay Giants team in the first Mzansi Super League tournament in South Africa. He also played for them again in 2019.

In July 2020, he joined the Guyana Amazon Warriors team for the Caribbean Premier League. In 2023, Tahir became the captain of the Guyana Amazon Warriors. That same year, he led them to win their first-ever championship.

On 9 August 2021, while playing for Birmingham Phoenix, Tahir made history. He became the first bowler to take a hat-trick in the first season of The Hundred tournament. In November 2021, he was picked to play for the Dambulla Giants in the Lanka Premier League.

In October 2023, the Pakistan Cricket Board announced that Imran Tahir would be a mentor for the Bahawalpur team in the Pakistan Junior Cricket League.

International Cricket Career

Imran Tahir first joined the South African Test team in 2010. However, it was a mistake because he was not yet allowed to play for South Africa until January 2011. He was quickly removed from the team but returned once he became eligible.

Tahir officially qualified to play for South Africa on 1 January 2011. He was then chosen for the 2011 Cricket World Cup. He made his debut for South Africa on 24 February 2011, against the West Indies. In his first match, he took 4 wickets for 41 runs. He quickly impressed everyone, taking 14 wickets in his first five games.

He made his Test match debut against Australia in November 2011. He was a regular player in the Test team for four years. In a Test series against Pakistan in 2013, he took five wickets in one innings. This helped South Africa win the match.

In November 2012, Tahir bowled 37 overs in a Test match against Australia. He did not take any wickets and gave away 260 runs. These were the worst bowling figures in Test match history at the time. After this, he was not selected for the Test team for a while. However, he continued to do well in the shorter forms of the game.

At the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 tournament, Tahir had his best bowling figures of 4 wickets for 21 runs against the Netherlands. He was named Man of the Match. He was also one of the top wicket-takers in the tournament, with 12 wickets.

In the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup quarter-final, Tahir helped South Africa win their first-ever World Cup knockout match. He took 4 wickets for 26 runs and was named Man of the Match. At the end of 2015, he was chosen for the ICC ODI Team of the Year.

In February 2017, he became the top-ranked bowler in both ODI and T20I cricket. A few months later, he was named T20I Cricketer of the Year by Cricket South Africa. In August 2017, he was part of a World XI team that played three T20 International matches against Pakistan in Lahore.

2019 Cricket World Cup Performance

In April 2019, Imran Tahir was selected for South Africa's team for the 2019 Cricket World Cup. He played in the very first match of the tournament against England. At 40 years and 64 days old, Tahir became the oldest South African cricketer to play in a World Cup match.

He also bowled the first over of the tournament, making him the first spin bowler to do so in a World Cup. Tahir took the first wicket of the World Cup, getting England's Jonny Bairstow out. In South Africa's next match against Bangladesh, Tahir played in his 100th ODI.

Tahir retired from international cricket after playing South Africa's last group stage match against Australia in the 2019 World Cup.

Cricket Records

Imran Tahir holds several impressive records in cricket.

One Day Internationals (ODIs)

• He is the spin bowler with the most wickets for South Africa in the ICC World Cup, with 39 wickets.
• He was the first South African bowler to take seven wickets in an ODI match.
• He reached 100 ODI wickets in just 58 matches, which is the fastest for any South African bowler.
• He is the first and only spin bowler to take over 100 wickets in ODIs for South Africa.
• He bowled the most economical ten-over spell by a South African spinner, giving away only 14 runs for 2 wickets in 10 overs against New Zealand in 2017.
• He was the first South African and fourth bowler overall to take 4 wickets in an innings in all three major ICC events (World Cup, Champions Trophy, and World T20).

Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is)

• He was named T20 Cricketer of the Year for South Africa in 2013.
• Imran Tahir has taken the most wickets by a spin bowler for South Africa, with 61 wickets.
• He has the best bowling figures for any spin bowler in T20 International cricket for South Africa, taking 5 wickets for 24 runs against New Zealand.