Imran Tahir is SA's accidental hero

NEW DELHI: The now familiar celebratory sprint after taking a wicket says quite a bit about Imran Tahir. For the 35-year-old leg-spinner, who had almost lost all motivation of playing international cricket a decade ago, now fuelling South Africa's World Cup dream is a lot about destiny and fair bit of luck. At least, the ones who know him well say so.
Gary Stanyer from Kidsgrove Cricket Club in Birmingham, who arranged Tahir's stay in England and played alongside him, says, "Cricket was secondary.He went to South Africa in 2006-07 for the love of his wife. She had a job there and Imran had no option but to go there. He took up playing cricket there just for the sake of it, since he had very little to do. For him, to be playing for South Africa is accidental."
Track his roadmap and one can see that the journey to topflight cricket had too many turns and twists which started with learning the art of leg-break with Abdul Qadir's family in Pakistan. Making it to the Staffordshire county side after arriving England in 2000, took a long time. "After playing under-19s for Pakistan, he came to England on the recommendation of a local Pakistani mate. He used to train with Abdul Qadir's son Imran who also bowled leg-breaks. So, it helped him a lot then. Surprisingly, he could make his county debut only in 2004 despite his immense talent. It's only in late 2009 that he called up and said South Africa may just open the door for him," Stanyer told TOI from Birmingham.
"It was a tough time for him. He knew Pakistan were more interested in harnessing Danish Kaneria then. Unlike now, at that time, he couldn't even qualify to play for England since he was from Pakistan. He never wanted to give up his Pakistani citizenship. He would go back to play first-class cricket then. As time passed by, one could make out that the chances of playing international cricket got dim for him, but the passion on the field and commitment to the game remained."
Former India pacer Sanjeev Sharma, who went to play for Kidsgrove in local league in the twilight of his career in 2005, is happy to see that the boy who was sent to receive him in England, is turning the World Cup on its head. "He is a gem of a person. He would always be there to ask if everything was fine despite him being a county player. He would be in the gym or practising all day."
Stanyer agreed. "He would never say no to an opportunity of playing in the local league when he graduated to the next level."