A chinaman bowler with ample variations and a googly, Tabraiz Shamsi emerged as South Africa were starting to warm to the wave of spinners being produced at domestic levels, although it took a while for him to come through.

Shamsi started his career at Gauteng, moved to Kwa-Zulu Natal Inland, then Kwa-Zulu Natal and, when he struggled to breakthrough to the Dolphins franchise, moved back up country to join Titans. At first, he seemed destined to play provincially only but an impressive 2013-14 season for Easterns, in which he took 47 wickets at 20.02 to finish third in the three-day cup wicket-takers' list, got him more chances for the franchise.

He played five matches in the 2014-15 franchise 20-over competition and caught the eye of the touring West Indians, who were visiting South Africa that summer. Shamsi was signed in 2015 by Caribbean Premier League franchise St Kitts and Nevis Patriots, where Eric Simons was coach. There, Shamsi rose to some prominence, taking 11 wickets at 13.27 in the seven matches he played.

More regular opportunities in franchise cricket came the next season and Shamsi took them. He finished as the leading spinner in South Africa's first-class competition in the 2015-16 summer, in which he took 41 wickets at 19.97 in Titans' title-run. He was less successful in shorter formats but he maintained an economy rate of just over seven runs to the over in T20s, which had him picked for South African A side that was playing the touring England XI in a T20 warm-up match.

Even bigger breaks came when he was signed by Royal Challengers Bangalore as a replacement player for the injured Samuel Badree during the 2016 IPL and, soon after, picked in South Africa's ODI squad to play a triangular series in the Caribbean.
Firdose Moonda