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London - When Imran Tahir takes the field for Sunday's World Cup clash against Bangladesh at The Oval, he will become the 24th Protea to reach 100 ODI caps.
It is a serious achievement for a man who made his debut in the format at the age of 31.
Now 40, Tahir has been a mainstay of the Proteas limited over set-up since breaking onto the scene at the 2011 World Cup in India.
Still one of the most respected spinners in white ball cricket, Tahir has notched up 164 wickets in his 99 ODIs and he remains a vital part of the Proteas side trying desperately to launch their 2019 World Cup campaign.
"This means a lot to me," Tahir told media at The Oval on Saturday.
"I could never express it in words.
"I've come through a lot of hard patches and seen a lot of hardships. I lost both my parents before they got to see me play international cricket.
"It means so much to me and to my family. Every game I play for this country is really important to me and I'm just really proud.
"I dreamt this, but I never thought I would get to play with the legends that I have."
It was clear just from listening to Tahir on Saturday that he is passionate about his cricket and even more so about South Africa.
Anyone who has ever seen him celebrate a wicket would attest to that,
On Thursday at The Oval, it took him just two balls before he was off on his customary wide-armed sprint towards the boundary ropes in celebration.
Tahir, opening the bowling in a shock move, had Jonny Bairstow caught behind with just the second ball of the World Cup.
He would go on to finish with figures of 2/61 from his 10 overs, but it was not enough to prevent South Africa going down by 104 runs.
It means that Sunday's clash against Bangladesh has very quickly become a must-win.
"There is always pressure whenever you are representing your country, but you can take the pressure positively or negatively and we are very positive," Tahir said.
"We were beaten by a very good England team that has been dominating world cricket, and they played very well on that day.
"We'll learn from our mistake and we are looking forward to the challenge tomorrow."
Tahir has announced that he will be retiring from ODI cricket at the end of the World Cup.
"I'm really grateful to everybody," he said.
"I have given everything that I could to the country."
Play on Sunday gets underway at 11:30 (SA time).
@LloydBurnard is in England covering the 2019 Cricket World Cup for Sport24 ...
Imran Tahir addresses media ahead of his 100th ODI for the Proteas on Sunday @Sport24news @News24 pic.twitter.com/R3E35vCSA4
— Lloyd Burnard (@LloydBurnard) June 1, 2019
