Proteas' Tahir relishing good form

Earlier this year, Tahir spoke exclusively to East Coast Radio Sportswave about his disappointment at having been omitted from the Test squad for the five match series against England.

Tahir had performed well for the Proteas in their forgettable tour of India at the end of the year but failed to crack the nod for the most recent Test squad- despite being the highest South African wicket-taker in the Test series against India . England ended up winning the Test series 2-1 and there may have been some merit in calling up the specialist legbreak spinner.

At the time, Tahir was unhappy with being completely overlooked for the series. He then went about proving his worth to the national selectors with some outstanding performances for the Dolphins in the Sunfoil Series.

Proteas resurgence

Tahir single-handedly dismantled the Knights late in December for career-best domestic figures of 8-42 in the second innings of that match, in which the Dolphins romped to victory. He was recalled for the ODI leg of England’s tour, and took three-wicket hauls in the last two matches.

He backed that up with a man of the match performance on Friday night in the first of two T20 clashes against the visitors. Tahir took four wickets for just 21 runs which proved vital in restricting England to a reasonable total.

The Proteas spinner said his success with the ball stemmed from some good preparation as a bowling unit.

“We work as a team in the nets and make our plans there about how we will go about certain situations in a game. At the end of the day you feel pleased by how you performed because you worked for it and got the reward. I think that brings joy in the team and obviously for me as well,” Tahir said as he reflected on his bowling performance.

Tahir has been a vital cog in the Proteas' shorter format sides. But after being snubbed for the Test squad, the 36-year-old said his resolve to focus on playing good cricket domestically had a big influence on his return to form.

“Every player goes through situations like that; you need to be mentally strong. I’m just grateful to be playing with such a great team, a good bunch of guys and management and I think they had the belief that I would do well and they kept playing me," Tahir said.

“It’s nice to see that because I haven’t had two or three bad games in a row for a while, which I’m really grateful for. I didn’t want that to happen. So it was really pleasing that I played my part for the team and that’s the most important thing for me."

The Proteas will face Australia in three T20’s in two weeks’ time before they head to India for the T20 World Cup at the end of March. Despite having never won the tournament, Tahir said there is a strong belief within the Proteas squad that 2016 could be their year.

“I don’t think there will be added pressure. You know that if you lose one or two games you can be in danger of going back home. But we have big belief in our team, we’ve been playing very good cricket in the last year,” Tahir said.

The Proteas will host Australia in Durban next Friday, March 4 at the Sahara Stadium Kingsmead.

 

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