Tahir bides his time

If there's something everyone in the world knows how to speak, it's the language of food. Tasty treats can bridge the gap between cultures, races, religions and nationalities. So when South Africa's Pakistan-born legspinner, Imran Tahir, who still has reservations about his English, was first picked for the national team, he introduced himself by making smoothies.

Tahir's concoctions of yoghurt, fruit and the odd sweet surprise have become the most talked-about delicacies in the South African change room. His team-mates rave about the drinks and have posted pictures on Twitter of Tahir with a blender, plying his popular part-time trade. For Tahir it was a way of becoming part of a team for which he is likely to make his Test debut this week.

"I am very famous in the team for eating," Tahir said. "I have a lot of a hunger because it took me 14 years of first-class cricket to become an international cricketer," he adds with a glint of mischief in his eye.

Those years included stints with 10 teams in his native Pakistan - five in his home city of Lahore alone - four English counties and two South African franchises. He finally settled in South Africa in 2006, marrying Durban-born Sumayya Dildar, whom he first met when touring the country with the Pakistan Under-19 side in 1998. But despite his history as a nomadic cricketer, the local conditions made him question his abilities as a sportsman.

"I had to bowl on such hard wickets, completely different to Pakistan. When I first started I wanted to bowl slowly, like I have been doing all my life. I got hit everywhere, and I thought I am not good enough to play in South Africa because it's so easy for them to play against me. Then I started working with Richard Pybus and learnt how to bowl in South Africa. I worked on my pace. You have to be faste in the air, but not flatter."

Once Tahir made the adjustment, his output was impossible to ignore. With an average that never went above 23.80, Tahir took 186 wickets in four seasons. He was picked for South Africa in the third of those, to play in a Test against England in January 2010, but was ineligible to represent the country at the time. When he did qualify, the team was not scheduled to play a Test for the next 11 months, but had a World Cup campaign looming. On subcontinental pitches that would favour his bowling, Tahir was an automatic pick.

In January this year he was included in the one-day squad to play India but spent the five matches carrying drinks, as he was held back as a secret weapon for the World Cup. "I hear things from people about why I wasn't playing but I am actually grateful to Graeme Smith and the team for the way they welcomed me in the team and made me feel comfortable," Tahir said. "Even though I didn't play a game against India I felt part of the team. So when I went to the World Cup, I didn't feel any pressure at all."

He made his international debut in South Africa's World Cup opener against West Indies in Delhi. "I was told I was playing the day before, and I didn't sleep the whole night. Once I bowled my first ball, I was very confident because I landed it on the right spot."

He conceded 11 runs in his second over and was taken out of the attack but brought back nine overs later. In that over, Tahir took his first international wicket, catching Devon Smith off his own bowling, with a delivery that was flighted generously. His celebration was explosive: he took off, running around the field and clutching the Proteas badge. It was a routine he repeated 13 times in the tournament. "That celebration is just in me somewhere," he said. "I didn't decide to make it up. I want to enjoy every wicket I take, even in club cricket. I just want to celebrate and play the game with passion."

While the tournament was a success for Tahir, it ended in familiar gloom for South Africa, after their quarter-final exit at the hands of New Zealand. Tahir said the defeat was a "big shock" to him and the most emotional loss he had ever experienced. "We left the ground very late. We sat there for two hours after the game. Everybody cried. Everyone was very down. I just sat in the corner for one hour."

He was pleasantly surprised on returning home to see South African fans rally around the team and pledge their support. "Just before we landed, I heard there are people outside, and I was scared. I was getting ready to catch some tomatoes and onions," he said. "But it went the other way, and it was very nice to see people standing for us and saying we are still behind you and we will always support you. That's what makes us a complete South African nation, to see so much love from people, even when we lost a big game."

South Africa had nearly a seven-month break and while many of Tahir's team-mates used the time to go on holiday, he did not. He returned to Hampshire, where he had another successful season, with 28 first-class wickets at 24.46 and 17 in the Twenty20 competition at 16.88. "I wanted to have a little bit of practice.

"Well, that is not a little in county cricket, it is a lot," he laughed. "I wanted to do well and show the selectors that I am capable."

That may well be his last county stint, though, as he looks to focus on international cricket and his family, having bought his first house recently. He is pleased to have left on a positive note, and said county cricket taught him much of what he knows about playing the game now, because he was able to bowl to so many top-class batsmen and learn from bowlers of the calibre of Shane Warne. It also gave him his insatiable desire for wickets. "I don't like to go back to the hotel and see my family and friends and when they ask how I did and I say I got one wicket, I don't like that. I'd rather take four or five and be happy so I can face everyone."

Tahir's aggression has found him a place in the Test squad to play Australia. A wicket-taking spinner has not been part of South Africa's attack since Paul Adams in the mid-1990s, and Tahir is being talked up as the missing piece. However, on South African tracks, which have traditionally been prepared to suit seamers, spinners have largely had to play a containing role.

It is still unclear who among Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Vernon Philander and Paul Harris will be the donkey bowler, but Tahir said he'd be willing to share the burden. "I am an attacking bowler but I can change my plan and go however the team wants me to go. It might be a bit hard for me because I like to see me take wickets and running around the field, but if not, I'd rather not run around and save energy for the next spell."

His elevation to Test level has also meant that Tahir has had to work on other aspects of his game. While playing in the domestic leagues, he has looked a typical No. 11, comical with the bat and in the field, while being a wizard with the ball. Tahir understands that those weaknesses will hinder him on the big stage, and has made big strides in his fielding.

"I have heard from people that I have improved a lot from last year," he said, and there is proof of it too. "In the last county season, I took a catch which became an advert on television. It is a very famous catch.

"I was at short fine leg and Robert Key tried to sweep the medium-pacer Dimitri Mascarenhas. It went over my head, far up - miles, in fact. I just had to run and in the end I just caught the ball. I couldn't believe it. For one moment even Robert couldn't believe it and he stood there and thought, 'You can't take this catch.' But since then I have taken four or five catches in the same position. So fielding has been really good."

Tahir recalls the story with boyish joy. At 32, he is fitter than many younger players and has avoided major injuries through most of his career. He broke his left thumb during the World Cup and missed two group-stage matches, but had surgery on returning to South Africa and has now recovered fully. "If I am going to play international cricket I need to be fitter and stronger." And so he adheres strictly to his fitness regime. "Whenever I have time, I do my fitness," he said. "I go running on my own on Sundays or on Eid. I'd rather gym every day than go watch movies."

Tahir has already thought of getting into coaching when he hangs up his boots. "I love to help kids, especially spinners, in South Africa. You won't see many guys bowling legspin, so I want to try to see if I can develop another Imran Tahir."

For now he has his sights set on Australia. He has not seen much of them, save for a warm-up match before the World Cup in February, but he said he watched their series in Sri Lanka with interest. He expects them to be tough to bowl to but thinks the South African attack will be capable of challenging them.

"Playing with Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn, I am a very lucky guy," he grinned. "Not many people are going to attack those two, which means the batsmen will attack me. And if they attack me there is always a chance I can get a wicket."