Tahir ‘on the button’ for Giants
His teammates call him Benjamin Button but all Imran Tahir wants to do is carry on taking wickets for the Nelson Mandela Bay Giants who face the Cape Town Blitz in the Mzansi Super League at Newlands on Friday (5.30pm)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was a movie about a man who aged in reverse and Giants teammate Ben Dunk joked this week that 40-year-old Tahir is defying science by doing just that.
“I must pay a special tribute to the man sitting next to me as well.
“I think today [Tuesday] was the most expensive he’s been.
“He’s found breakthroughs every time we’ve needed them.
“I was calling him Benjamin Button out there.
“He’s getting younger the older he gets but it’s a real pleasure to keep (wicket) to him and I’m really fortunate to be in this team,” Dunk, who scored 99 not out in the win over the Spartans at St George’s Park on Tuesday, said.
That, right there, was admiration for Tahir, who despite his age remains one of the best five white-ball bowlers in world cricket.
Tahir, a veteran of 279 T20 matches, puts his success down to doing the hard yards off the field.
“Perhaps many people don’t know that I do work hard behind the scenes when nobody knows what I’m doing.
“It’s not like I’m off from international cricket and I’m just sitting at home with my family.
“I do work really hard and I’m just really pleased to see the reward coming.
“That always boosts you going into the next game and the next.
“From my role point of view, as long I’m doing well for the team I’m pleased.
“I just try my best because it’s difficult to play with the youngsters.
“You have to keep up with your performance, especially in the field.”
Tahir, with 12 wickets, is not the leading wicket-taker in the competition.
That honour belongs to another superstar, Dale Steyn of the Blitz, who has 15.
But it’s his economy rate of six runs per over in this competition that separates him from the rest.
Also, what makes him such a powerful weapon for skipper Jon-Jon Smuts is the fact that he regularly makes the early breakthrough.
And that happens more often than not in his first over, whether it’s inside the power play or just outside of it.
If the Giants win on Friday and then beat the Rocks on Sunday there is a very strong chance they will finish top and host the final on Monday December 16.
If they finish second, a playoff spot awaits them against the third placed team, also at St George’s Park.
The Blitz will also be a determined lot as they still have an outside chance of qualifying for the third spot if they win their last two matches.
One area the Giants will have to improve on is the amount of runs being bled by some of their seamers up front and at the death.
Both Junior Dala and Beuran Hendricks are going at over 10 an over for this campaign although it must be said that Dala has also picked up 12 wickets along the way.