Imran Tahir Biography

Full Name :  Mohammad Imran Tahir 

Date of Birth :  27th March 1979

Place of Birth :  Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan 

Batting Style :  Right-Hand 

Bowling Style : Right-Arm Leg Break 

Role  :  Bowler 

Test Debut (cap 310)  :  9th November 2011 v Australia 

ODI Debut (cap 99)   :  24th February 2011 v West Indies 

Mohammad Imran Tahir is a Pakistan born South African cricketer. Tahir is a right-handed batsman who is a leg break bowler. Tahir currently plays for the Proteas and the Dolphins in South Africa and will play for Hampshire in the 2011 English county cricket season.

As well as his first-class career in Pakistan, Tahir has had short spells with Yorkshire and Middlesex in county cricket as well as playing for Staffordshire in the Minor Counties Cricket Championship.

While Tahir has represented Pakistan Under-19 cricket team's and Pakistan A, he failed to win full international honours for Pakistan. Tahir is married to Sumayya Dildar,a South African of Indian descent, and has represented South Africa after becoming eligible to play for them when he met his four-year residence requirement in April 2009.

Tahir was a member of Hampshire's 2009 Friends Provident Trophy winning squad, taking 2/50 from 10 overs in the final against Sussex. Tahir made his career high score of 77 not out in a County Championship match against Somerset on 28 August 2009.

For the 2010 season Hampshire signed Sri Lankan spinner Ajantha Mendis, replacing Tahir for the season. Tahir represented Warwickshire for the 2010 season, although he is contracted to play for Hampshire from the 2011 season onwards.

Tahir made his 100th first-class appearance in the 2009/2010 SuperSport Series when the Titans played the Lions. On January 8 Tahir was called up to the South Africa squad in their Test series against England although he was then withdrawn one day later after Cricket South Africa revealed that he was not eligible to play.

At the end of the 2009/10 season, Tahir moved from the Titans to the Dolphins. This was due to a lack of first-class cricket with the club, who preferred to play 23-year-old leg-spinner Shaun von Berg. When Tahir was called into South Africa's squad for the final Test against England, national coach Mickey Arthur said "I'm not entirely sure what the issues are between him and the Titans, but the Titans obviously aren't going to pick him because they'd rather pick the young leggie they have".

International Career

Tahir qualified for South Africa on 1 January 2011, and was selected by them for the 2011 Cricket World Cup.Although he was part of South Africa's squad to play a five-match ODI series against India before the World Cup, Tahir did not make his debut. Captain Graeme Smith explained that this was because "Tahir is someone we want to keep fresh and we didn't want to give people the opportunity to see too much of him."

Tahir debuted for South Africa in a match against the West Indies on Feb 24th, 2011 at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium in Delhi.  Imran Tahir took 4 wickets for 41 runs in 10 overs during his debut match.