Sleepless Night Urged Imran Tahir To His Best

AB de Villiers even offered to give the Proteas’ new spin star half his ‘man of the match’ award after what he described as a fantastically “composed” performance in the biggest game of Tahir’s career so far.

But Tahir said he wasn’t all that calm after all.

He said he couldn’t get any sleep on Wednesday night after learning he would play his first competitive match for his adopted country the next day.

And the former Pakistan ‘A’ bowler said it was nervous energy, instead, that carried him to figures of 4-41 to lead South Africa’s bowling effort in its seven-wicket win over West Indies in Group B.

“It’s been a great day,” Tahir said. “They told me that I’m playing today, yesterday, we had a meeting. I think that was the worse thing because I didn’t sleep the whole night, even in the morning.

“But I think I had energy and I was just praying that I would have a good day … I was very excited.”
Tahir’s was the standout bowling performance from South Africa and was good enough to be noticed by De Villiers, whose unbeaten century carried South Africa to an opening win along with Tahir’s bowling.

“He’s an amazing talent and it’s great to have him in the side,” De Villiers said of the 31-year-old who was born in Lahore and only qualified to play for the Proteas on Dec. 31.

“It’s amazing to see how composed and calm he was today for a debutant, in a World Cup game… He can have half the man of the match medal,” De Villiers added.

Tahir captured the crucial wickets of the experienced Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul among his four scalps, and said he had enjoyed his debut. “I had a good day,” he said.

Proteas’ skipper Graeme Smith also said it was a strong start from his new spinner, who is also playing in India for the first time in his career.

“He bowled really well,” Smith said. “I tried to use him in short spells and tried to get the timing right to use him and obviously that was good today.

“He responded superbly well. He picked up key wickets for us, every time he came on he made an impact for us.”

Tahir is making the most of his late chance at international cricket having played in Pakistan, England and South Africa, and finally settling in the South African coastal city of Durban after marrying a local woman.

“Everything came out from my hand very nicely,” he said of his promising start at the Feroz Shah Kotla ground on Thursday.