Tahir nursing World Cup ambition

Imran Tahir, the Pakistan-born spinner now waiting to qualify to play for South Africa, is hoping his chance can come as early as the World Cup, to be played in the subcontinent in February-March. Although the odds are stacked against Tahir - he has to prove to the Home Office that he is a skilled professional - Andrew Hudson, the convenor of selectors, hasn't ruled out picking somebody from outside the provisional 30-man World Cup squad for the global tournament. Tahir has done his time according to the ICC rules, spending four years in South Africa, but it is with the Home Office that he is having to work a little harder.

Legspin is the skill that will make him a South African resident, and not his being married to a South African woman, Sumayya Dildar. To do so, he will have to write an article stating the value he brings to the country. "I have to show that I can share my knowledge with them," Tahir said. "What is legspin? What is googly? What is flipper? What is topspin? What is slider? How to bowl. How to practise. I have to write that I am a skilled man, and I can share that skill with the South Africans."

He was expecting it some time in December, but because of Christmas and holidays, there have been delays. An optimistic Tahir is expecting to be a South African resident by the second week of January. In preparation, he has had an exceptional season so far, leading the charts with 30 wickets for Dolphins in four first-class games. Twelve of those came in one game against the Titans, his former team that benched him throughout the whole of last season.

Tahir's attacking legspin has found a fan in arguably the greatest South African bowler of all time. In his column in the January-February issue of SA Cricket, Allan Donald wrote, "Tahir possesses a killer instinct and the variation to amplify his threat, and while you'll have to accommodate the fact that he may leak a few runs, he is a constant wicket-taking danger. During his time at Warwickshire I also saw first-hand that he has the mentality and the temperament for big games. He'd be my pick if the Proteas are looking to play an extra spinner [in the world Cup, ahead of Robin Peterson and Roelof van der Merwe]."

Tahir has had the pleasure of being Kevin Pietersen's team-mate this season, and that he said helped him in more than one way. "When I saw KP, the media was all over him," Tahir said. "He changed shoes, and that would make it to the newspapers. I thought I needed to do something to get the attention towards me. He is big. Media was making him bigger. I thought why can't I grab all the attention. It was a challenge. And I like challenges. I needed to take wickets, and see what I could do. First took I took nine, then 12. KP also told me after games that he liked it because he didn't have to stay on the field for long."

Moreover Pietersen has played with attacking spinners like Shane Warne. He understood wrist spin and the attacking fields required much better. "He helped me a lot," Tahir said. "He talked to me during the games. Obviously there are many things you don't know, and find out only when you play international cricket." Pietersen had glowing things to say about Tahir before he went back to join his English team-mates for the Ashes.

Tahir brings with him the experience of having bowled in various conditions: Pakistan, English counties and now South Africa. His new home has been the toughest to bowl in, he said, despite the fact that the batsmen here hardly get to face quality, attacking spin bowling. "These are really tough conditions," he said. "These are hard tracks. County cricket is different. You always have June, July and August in your pocket as a spinner. Maybe September too, if it is a dry summer. Here you have to be really skilful. It's easy for batsmen to come down the track and hit you if you flight it. If you bowl quick it is easy to play for the batsmen. Grounds are also small. It is a good challenge. This is my job, and I love doing it."