KP: Tahir is world class

The 31-year-old Tahir, who signed from the Nashua Titans during the off-season, has enjoyed a remarkable start with his new franchise capturing 23 wickets in three matches with 21 of his victims coming in his last two matches.

“I think Imran Tahir is world class and as soon as he has qualified for South Africa he should play, he is that good,” Pietersen said after Tahir had returned match figures of 12 for 159 as the Dolphins beat the Titans by nine wickets inside three days last weekend.

During the Dolphins victory over the Titans it was noticeable how well Pietersen and Tahir combined with the leg-spinner heading straight to Pietersen for high-fives and hugs after the fall of each wicket.

It reminded onlookers of Pietersen’s first match as England captain when he led his country to a six-wicket win over South Africa in the fourth test at The Oval in London during the 2008 season.

Pietersen remarked of that success that there had been a lot of love on the field during the match and the same could be said of the current Dolphins’ set-up.

Tahir was certainly one of the players who enjoyed a lot of love during Pietersen’s two-match stint with the Durban-based franchise.

“He (Tahir) is in a different league. He spins the ball both ways and he’s got incredible control. If you can spin the ball both ways you get wickets,” Pietersen enthused.

“He does bowl the odd bad ball but if managed properly and given lots of confidence the man can bowl any team out. He’s definitely somebody who should be playing test match cricket,” Pietersen explained.

When, and if, Tahir qualifies to play for South Africa remains a bit of a mystery. The Proteas’ selectors have already jumped the gun once when they included the bowler in their test squad to face England at the beginning of the year.

But Tahir, who is married to a South African woman, had to be pulled from the team because of concerns about his residency requirements.

Tahir himself is not sure when he qualifies for South Africa. He thinks it is December this year but he said that officials at the Dolphins are looking into the question of his availability for South Africa.

However, he is unequivocal in his desire to turn out for the Proteas.

“One of my dreams is to play for South Africa. When I qualify, hopefully the selectors will pick me,” he said.

If he does play for South Africa it would require a shift in tactics from the test team.

The Proteas’ current tactics require their spinner to block up one end while the likes of paceman Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel are used to strike from the other end.

But Tahir is strike bowler himself and he does not particularly like being used in a holding role.

“Some people believe that a leg-spinner should go for about two to three runs an over and get three or four wickets a day. That’s fine but I’m more attacking. I don’t want to play boring cricket and bowl in one area all day and hope for the batsman to make a mistake to get a wicket,” he said.

“My belief is that I have to try and get batsmen out rather than wait for them to give me their wicket. Sometimes I might go wicketless during a day’s play but I would rather give myself a chance to pick up five wickets than none at all,” he explained.

So far Tahir’s approach has certainly worked during this season as he picked up nine wickets against the Chevrolet Warriors on a flat wicket in Pietermaritzburg and 12 against the Titans on a good batting wicket in Durban.

Neither pitch provided much in the way of spin.

It helps that the flamboyant bowler has a very large bag of tricks to draw from and he is not restricted to simply bowling a conventional leg-spinner.

“I have a top-spinner, flipper and I have a few different types of googlies and that helps me to deceive batsmen. I change my action slightly and bowl the same type of ball. (It means) I can bowl six to eight different types of deliveries,” he explained.

Tahir is coming off a tough county season in England where he reckons he bowled about 700 overs for Warwickshire but he says that the welcome he has received in Durban has helped him overcome any tiredness he may have felt.

“Coming to a new franchise you want to prove yourself and get as many wickets as you can. It’s my first year with the Dolphins but I feel appreciated here and that just make me want to do well.”